Dealing With The Past
by NopeNo
Summary: -AU, Major OOC- Allen's just trying to get his life back on track. No one needs to know of his horrible past as long as it stays there and leaves him alone. Let's hope it stays that way. -Rated for language and rape- !Story is way better than summary!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there, this is my first FanFic ever and I had time to publish it, so I was like 'why not?' Anyway, just read the story and be honest on how you like it/hate it. I don't care if it's hate or love as long as it's honest. Also, I wasn't sure on what to pick for the genres so I just picked friendship and hurt/comfort since I'm a newbie with this kind of thing. If have a better suggestion, be my guest.**

"Come on, we're gonna be late if you don't hurry up!" A boy yells out up the stairs before leaning back on the wall. This boy has fire red hair and an eyepatch over his left eye making his appearance mysterious, but if you looked into his emerald eyes, you would see flashes of playfulness.

"Just a minute!" Another voice yelled out. A second later, a smaller boy comes rushing down the steps. This one has snow white hair and a strange mark running down his left eye. A pentacle starts the mark on top of his eyebrow and the end of it stops at the bottom of his cheek in a lightning bolt fashion. He rushes out the door with the redhead following close behind.

"Cross not home?" The taller teen asks while watching the other fumble a bit with his keys.

"No, he had to leave for work earlier, already said 'bye.'" He nods in understanding and points towards a sleek, black car parked on the street. "We better hurry before Yu gets mad at us." He smiles while saying this, as if he wants Yu to get mad. Just at that moment an angry car horn rang annoyingly through the air.

"Allen, Lavi, come on! We can't be late for our first day!" A girl with short greenish-blackish hair yelled out the window of the car.

"Sorry Lenalady! We're comin'!" Lavi and Allen rush towards the back of the car and get in. They drive off before the doors even close all the way. "Man, I'm so bummed that summer's already over! It seems like just yesterday that Yu was driving us _away_ from that prison for teens and children everywhere!"

"Shut the fuck up, Usagi, it's too early to deal with you!" The teen driving the car, Yu, has long black hair, but at a closer look, you would see the hair to be of a navy blue colour. The hair reaches to his waist and is almost always in a ponytail.

"Lenaleeeeee! Yu-chan's bein' mean to me!" Lenalee and Allen laugh a little while Kanda mentally debates if he can crash the car without hurting Lenalee and him too much. He decides that no, he cannot unfortunately and continues driving and curses 'usagis' and 'moyashis' under his breath.

"So, Allen," Lenalee turns in her seat to face Allen who was previously picking at the hem of his gloves that everyone thought he wore just for the heck of it. "Are you nervous for your first day at Black Order High?"

"A little, yes, but I'm used to going to new schools so the feeling's not as bad as it used to be when I was younger." He answers truthfully. The other three had met Allen during the summer when he had just moved in and it would seem like they knew each other their whole lives. Allen and his guardian, whom he calls Cross, tend to move a lot because of Cross' job, so he's used to what it comes with being the new kid. They soon arrive at the school and are surprisingly earlier than planned. They shuffle inside and heads towards the main office so Allen could talk with the president, who just happens to be Lenalee's big brother known as Komui Lee.

"He'll be with you in a moment guys, he's got someone in there right now, so just go wait over there." Reever, Komui's assistant and friend, pointed to a small area in the office with chairs and a small coffee table in the middle. The three boys go to the designated area while Lenalee stays back to talk to Reever about something school-wise. Since her brother is more of a figurehead when it came to small things with the school, she took the responsibility of helping him so he wouldn't get into trouble. A few minutes later, they were allowed to enter Komui's office, which just looks like a storage room with all the papers everywhere.

"Lenaleeee~! I missed yooouuuuu~!" Immediately, Lenalee gets stuck with a Komui-leech on her leg, crying about how she always hangs out with nasty octupi and never pays attention to him anymore. After calming her brother down, by kicking him a few times, Lenalee pulled Allen forward.

"Nii-san, this is Allen, he's my new friend I told you about?" Komui studies him for a second before his eyes filled with recognition.

"Ah, yes! I know you, Cross talks about you all the time and can I say, I love your influence on him! Ever since he took you in, his whole lifestyle has changed from womanizing, drinking, and gambling to a caring, sober, father-figure!" Komui exclaimed while shaking Allen's hand with much energy. Allen smiles politely, albeit a little concerned for the extreme mood swings this man seems to have.

"It's nice to meet you sir, Lenalee has said much about you." Before Komui could go off on how wonderful and nice his little sister is, Lavi interrupts him.

"Um, Komui, we kind of have to go to our classes soon, so if you could wrap this up, that'd be great." Komui pouts a little, but nonetheless goes to his desk and pulls a few papers from the top of a tower that seems it might fall any second.

"Fine, here is your schedule Allen and I made sure that at least one of your friends are in there, so you shouldn't have any problems." He smiles and hands Allen the paper, "Also, I would like to talk to you for a moment. Lenalee, make sure you stay behind so that you can help Allen to your first period class~!" The three friends leave and Allen takes a seat on the couch in front of Komui's desk. Komui leans on the front of it instead of actually sitting in the chair and Allen's becoming a bit more wary about the looming tower of papers Komui almost knocked over by leaning back. Outside the room, Lavi and Lenalee could be seen pressing their ears flat against the door, on their knees, whereas Kanda stands above them and has his hand cupped around his ear against the cold wood.

"Damn it, it's like this door is sound proof or somethin'. I can't hear anything!" Lenalee shushes Lavi and continues trying to listen to her brother's and new friend's conversation. Ever since they had met the strange white-haired boy, they had become curious as to what his life is like. At first, they didn't really care, but as they started hanging with him more, they noticed that he would always avoid conversations and topics that were personal. Sure, they knew his favorite food, his parents died when he was young and his current guardian is a man who worked with the Army, and they know everything about his personality. But nothing about his real parents, his past experiences, nothing. They had become slightly annoyed by this and they set it as their mission to find out more of their new, precious friend.

"So, Allen, Cross has already talked to me about your 'situation' so you don't have to worry about that. He told me just the things I needed to be aware of, nothing too personal." He reassured the teen with the last sentence after noticng a slight panicked expression emerging. Allen sighed in relief, knowing that Cross had kept it to a need-to-know basis with him. No one needs to know fully what happened to him in the last few years and the real truth as to why Cross and him moved here in the first place. "If you have any problems, just talk to your counslor, or me. She is aware too, but she knows what I know, so you don't have to worry. Cross also told me that sometimes you have… 'relapses.' Would you mind in being a little more detailed as to what happens? I need to know in order to be prepared for if it ever happens while you're at school." Allen nods his head then sighs.

"My mind fills up with what happened back then and I'll just go blank. It'll feel like I'm reliving it and after it gets too much, I'll pass out." Allen laughs a little and Komui notices that it sounds a little hollow, "It hasn't happened in a while though, so I should be good for a little longer."

'Just how much has this kid gone through…?' Komui looks over the notes he'd just written for Allen's 'relapses.' 'I feel so bad for him; I couldn't even imagine my Precious Lenalee going through anything close to what Cross has told me…' He shuffles his papers against the desk and sits down in his chair before smiling towards Allen. "Thank you for telling me this; I can't imagine how hard it is on you." Allen smiles back and reassures the man that it's okay. "Well, Allen, welcome to Black Order High and I hope some of your best years are here~!" He dismisses Allen and he leaves with his schedule and backpack in hand.

"Oh crap!" Lavi whisper-yells before running out of the office with Kanda close behind. Just as they are out of sight, Allen opens the door to see Lenalee on her knees in front of the ground.

"Are you okay…?" Allen hesitantly asks while reaching his gloved hand forward for her to take. She smiles with a red tint on her cheeks.

"Haha, yeah, I'm good. Come on, let's get to class!" Lenalee took off running, dragging Allen before he had a chance to ask what she was doing. 'That was close…' Lenalee mentally sighed in relief before slowing down some for Allen. "So, are you any good at art, or you just taking it for an easy-pass?" They start walking up the stairs and there are students filling the hallways by now.

"Actually, I love art. I want to become an artist one day and I have always been complicated on my work. I have a really good eye when it comes to art." Allen notices a few people staring at him and people whispering, but Lenalee doesn't. Allen pulls up his grey hoodie and continues to follow Lenalee, already used to being talked about. Lenalee raises an eyebrow about his actions, but says nothing about it.

"Really? That's great! Then you're going to love our art teacher. He's also Kanda's adoptive father, but shhh," She puts a finger up to her lips, "Don't tell him I told you." Allen laughs and follows Lenalee into the art class. It already has a few students in since most of them don't get here until a second before the bell. The few that are here glance over at the two before returning to their own conversations. "Mr. Tiedoll, I want you to meet a new student and a new friend of ours." Allen figures she means her, Kanda, and Lavi when she says 'ours.' An elderly looking man comes out of the back room and comes towards us. He wears glasses and his hair is gray. He has stubble for a beard and along the sides of his face, but has an actual mustache. He's gentle and caring, as if everything he handled would break with one wrong move.

"Ah, so you're Allen Walker? It's nice to meet you, how has Cross been? I heard he's doing better ever since he took you in." Allen takes his hand and notices that it's firm, but gentle. He has a feeling that he's going to like this man.

"He's been doing well, thank you for asking. Is it true that you're Kanda's adoptive father?" An even bigger smile breaks out on his face and he starts going on a rant on 'how much he loves Yu even though he's mean to him.'

"Anyway, welcome to advanced art and Black Order High. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or Lenelee here." Allen nods and thanks the older man before heading to the back of the room with Lenalee.

"Hey Lenalee, do we get lockers or do we always carry our bags?" Allen shuffles through the bag before pulling out a sketchbook and mechanical pencil.

"Yeah, but not until later this week after everything's settled." She pulls out her own sketch pad and pencil and places her messenger bag on the table. "May I look?" She points at Allen's book with a slight puppy-dog face. Allen hesitates for a moment before giving it to her. She beams at Allen before turning the page. "Oh my God, Allen, this is great!" A slight heat rose to Allen's cheeks at the praise.

"Thank you, Lenalee." She continues to compliment on his pictures until she finishes the few pages that were actually drawn, each appraisal made Allen's cheeks just a bit redder. "Heh, you would think that with all the compliments I get, I would be used to it by now." Lenalee laughs a little before handing the notebook back.

"Really, Allen, those are amazing. I wish I could draw at _least_ half that well." After 1st period had finished they went their separate ways, thankfully, Allen's next class, civics, isn't that far from the art room and he has no problem getting there. When he walks in, he sees Lavi and gets greeted by him and the teacher. His first day of school went by really fast and, before he knew it, he was walking back home. Everyone else had to stay at the school since they were either the president of some club, Lavi and Kanda, or had to help their brother with fliers for school, Lenalee. 'Today was great' I hope it'll stay like this for a while before everything becomes hectic again.' Allen thinks while walking down the sidewalk with his hoodie up. He had to pull it off in 2nd period and got some smart ass comments about it, but that was before Lavi sent them a few glares. 'At least I have friends at this school and it's not like the other ones.' Allen continued in silence, deep in thought, to his house.

**I'm using my school and schedule as a reference for anything related to it. What better way than experience? Hope you like it, I've wanted to write on FanFiction for quite a while now and I finally had a chance to. Cross will come up in the next chapter by the way, if you were wondering. I have quite a few ideas for FanFiction and hopefully I'll get them all on here. So yeah, review please~!**

**Music: Apocalyptica, Downtown Fiction, Birdeatsbaby, Rasputina, Mariyln Manson, My Chemical Romance, Emilie Autumn, Abney Park, Jem, The Killers, Breaking Benjamin, Ra, Evanescence, Lady GaGa, Sick Puppies, Foo Fighters, Nicki Minaj, Queen, and Katy Perry.**


	2. Chapter 2

_You're from a whole 'nother world__  
><em>_A different dimension__  
><em>_You open my eyes__  
><em>_And I'm ready to go__  
><em>_Lead me into the light___

_Kiss me, k-k-kiss me__  
><em>_Infect me with your love and__  
><em>_Fill me with your poison___

_Take me, ta-ta-take me__  
><em>_Wanna be a victim__  
><em>_Ready for abduction___

_Boy, you're an alien__  
><em>_Your touch so foreign__  
><em>_It's supernatural__  
><em>_Extraterrestrial_

"He listens to the weirdest shit…" Cross mumbles from his chair in the living room. He crosses his legs and takes a sip from the wine glass on the table next to him. He knows he's not supposed to be drinking, but as long as he doesn't turn back into the mean drunk he was, then it's okay. Besides, it's his day off and he'll enjoy it anyway he wants to! Allen opens his bedroom door, letting the music become even louder before closing it again, muffling the sound. He walks into the hallway and is surprised to see Cross sitting there.

"Uncle Cross, I didn't know today was a day off. Is the music too loud? I could turn it down if you want me to." Cross shakes his head after taking another sip from his glass.

"No, the music's fine. What are you doing today?" Allen walks into the kitchen and takes out a tall glass.

"Yes actually, my friends are coming over. We're just going to hang around here until we get bored, then we'll probably just go out somewhere." Allen pours milk into the glass until it's almost to the brim while shrugging.

"You mean those kids that came over here during the summer?" Allen nods his head once Cross can see him again and sits in the chair opposite of the older male, "That's alright, as long as Ponytail doesn't slice anything up and Red doesn't touch any of my stuff." Allen laughs a little and sets the glass on the table before sitting back. 'Ponytail' is Cross' name for Kanda, the same for 'Red' with Lavi. The last time Allen's friends were over, Kanda kept breaking things with his trusted Mugen, a katana he got through his real family, trying to get Lavi, but kept missing; Lavi stuck his nose in everything that seemed even remotely weird that had to with the house and he almost got his head blown off with one of Cross' traps.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure everything goes smoothly and nothing breaks." Allen stands up and starts walking away with his glass in hand to his bedroom. The music is still blaring, but Cross doesn't mind it.

'If he's going out then I'll have to get something for him…' Cross also stands from his seat and goes over to the refrigerator. He writes on the little notepad magnetized to it, meant specifically for if one leaves the house and needs to leave a note. He grabs his keys and leaves to the garage, getting in his car, and driving away. Ten minutes later, the front door slams open and a blur of red rushes in and up the stairs.

"ALLLLEEEENNN! HELP! YU'S TRYIN' TO KILL ME!" Lavi yells out while barging into Allen's room and grabs Allen's shoulders, using him as a human shield. Allen stands there with his half-empty glass in minor shock from the older teen just running into his room like a bat out of Hell. A moment later a second yell rang through the semi-empty house.

"Let me go Lenalee! COME BACK HERE YOU BAKA USAGI SO I CAN KILL YOU!" Kanda struggles against Lenalee's surprisingly strong grip. 'Damn, this has woman has more strength than a full-grown man!'

"Kanda, calm down, then I'll let you go." Lenalee said in an all-too-sweet voice. Kanda growls deep in his throat and glares at the stairs. "Don't you growl at me!" After Kanda had finally calmed down, Lenalee lead the way to Allen's room where Allen had gotten Lavi pried off of him and onto the bed. He also turned down the music a bit when they walked in so he could actually hear them.

"You never cease to amaze me with your entrances, guys. I don't even want to know." Allen sits against his bed on the floor and sets his now empty glass on the bedside table. "This week went by fast, didn't it?" Lenalee sits on the floor in front of Allen and Kanda sits next to Lenalee.

"Yeah, it did, thank God. I'm already getting tired of school." She pouts and pulls out her phone from her pocket after it made a small ding. "Ah, she has it, yes!" She texts back before putting the phone back in her pocket.

"Who has what?" Lavi asks, his curiosity like a small child wanting to know everything there is to know.

"It was Miranda, she has the newest Junjou Romantica and said she'll give it to me once she's done~!" Lenalee said in a voice like a child who was anticipating Christmas morning. Kanda's form tensed at the mention of her 'precious yaoi,' as she put it.

"Junjou Romantica? What is that, some kind of book?" Lavi asks and Kanda starts glaring at him for even asking that, now Lenalee's going to go into 'fangirl mode.'

"It's a yaoi manga, Lavi, so yes; it's a type of book." Allen answers, looking up at Lavi with an innocence waving off of him. Lavi makes an 'o' with his mouth and nods his head. Allen looks back at Lenalee, who has her mouth open with shock apparent on her face. "…What?"

"You read yaoi, Allen?" Allen nods his head and a smile grows on her face. She grabs his hands and looks up at him. "Oh my God, you have no idea how happy I am! I've only known girls in real life who read it, but now I know a _boy_! This is great! I can't wait to tell her about this!" She seems to be bouncing in her spot with excitement, "So, what are your favorite mangas? Ooh! Do you read FanFiction too?" Before she could question Allen any further, Kanda puts a hand on her mouth and keeps her still in her spot next to him.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't go into 'fangirl mode' while I'm here, thank you." He stresses out through clenched teeth. Lenalee laughs and remove Kanda's hand. She mouths 'we'll talk later' to Allen who nods his head with a smile.

"Okay, I'm sorry, but what is that smell Allen? It's so weird, it smells like pot, but it's not." Lavi asks from his place on the bed above Allen on his left. "I mean, you guys smell that too, right?" He gestures towards the other two who sniff the air.

"Now that you mention it, there is a weird smell… It smells kinda like… vanilla?" Kanda nods his head in agreement after sniffing the air a few times.

"Oh, you must mean my incense!" Allen gets up from his spot and goes over to the far wall where a bookshelf is. The whole thing's filled with books and the very top of it has candles, a lighter, a rectangular box with smoke coming from it, and all these sticks in a small jar next to the box. He grabs the jar and brings it back over to the small group to hand it to Lavi. "Just take one out and smell it. They're really good and I always have one lit. That's why it smells like that in here." Lavi does as he says and hands the jar to Lenalee while sniffing the stick.

"Whoa, it smells really good! It smells like your house Kanda!" Lenalee hands the stick to Kanda to sniff and takes another one out.

"Che, that's because the old man's room is filled with this kind of stuff. It leaks out into the house since he leaves his door open all the time." He gives the stick back to Lenalee who puts it back into the jar.

"Oh my God, can I have some of these Allen?" Lavi asks while taking out a different one and smelling it.

"Sure, take as many as you want, I'm making a run up to the store tomorrow to get more anyway. You can too if you want Lenalee, Kanda." Lavi grabs a few and starts smelling more, trying to decide which ones smell good.

"Why would I want anything of _yours_ Moyashi?" Kanda asks and Lenalee sends him a warning glance, but he chooses to ignore it. Allen visibly tenses at the _horrid_ nickname he dubbed him with.

"Well, _BaKanda_, I was just being nice. But seeing as you're still stuck with an underdeveloped mind, I understand that it's hard for you to understand that concept." Allen smiles innocently at Kanda, just making him fume even more.

"At least I can kick your small ass without breaking a sweat, Moyashi." Allen leans into Kanda's face and looks at him with a straight face.

"You wanna bet?" There's a dangerous glint in his eyes and Kanda seems hesitant for a second, but covers it up. Kanda also notices that he can't see his pupils, just slates of gray that were usually bright silver. Lenalee and Lavi stare at them in shock, never seeing Allen act like this and actually seeing Kanda back off for a second before covering it up. Before Kanda could say anything, a door slamming brought Allen out of his state. He stands up straight and walks out of the room while calling out to see if it was Cross who had entered. Allen followed Cross into the living room asking where he went. Back in his bedroom, the three teens were frozen, just looking at where Allen was standing before he left the room.

"What the Hell…?" Kanda mumbles after a moment of silence. "What the Hell was that just now?" He says a little louder to Lenalee and Lavi who are still trying to comprehend what just happened.

"Just everything about him changed, even the mood he was giving off was creepy." Lavi shivers a little at the scene that just played out in front of him.

"Maybe it wasn't anything, you know? It happened so quickly maybe it was just our minds…?" Lenalee voiced out, although very unsure of her own words.

"Whatever it was, if it was anything at all, we have to keep an eye out for it." Lavi says and Lenalee and Kanda agree.

"Where did you go?" Allen asks once in front of Cross. He pulls out a small box from his pocket and hands it to Allen.

"I had to pick up something. If you're going to start getting out more, I need a way to contact you." Allen opens the box and picks up a small golden ball that resembles a golden snitch with its wings in. "No, it's not a snitch from the stupid movies, it's called a golem. I invented it, so that I could reach you easily, it's way better than a phone." The little ball grows wings that are like an angel's and flutters around Cross' head a few times. He grabs it out of the air and places it in Allen's hands. "His name is Timcanpy, don't hurt his feelings or he'll bite you." Allen looks questioningly at Cross before returning his attention to the golden golem.

"Timcanpy?" He flaps his wings in response and Allen giggles, "Nice to meet you." Tim flies up and perches himself on Allen's head causing a few more giggles to leave him. "So he's mine?"

"Yeah, I made him a few years back and left him with a friend for a while. I figured it was time to bring him into the picture." Cross shrugs and Allen surprises him by giving him a hug and saying thank you. Cross hugs back with a smile on his face.

"I should get back to my friends, we're going to head out in a little bit and I'll make sure to bring Tim with me." Cross nods his head and Allen heads back into his room where it was deathly silent. Allen closes the door behind him and stands there looking at his quiet friends. "Are you guys okay…?" Three heads shoot up to look at Allen and he jumps a little.

"Hey Allen, what's that thing on your head?" Lavi asks to break the silence and awkwardness of the moment. The golem flies towards Lavi and lands on his outstretched hand. "Hey! This is a golem! It's a different colour, but still!" Lavi scratches the head of Tim with his finger with a smiling face.

"How'd you know that? I didn't even know until Cross told me." Allen sits on the bed with Lavi and Lenalee stands up to get a closer look.

"That's 'cause of my gramps. He knows everything there is to know about the Army, and a lot of other stuff that I cannot disclose, and he's teachin' me everything about it. I know that Cross is the one who invented these things except the ones they use are black and kinda look like bats. They use them to talk to each other over long distances and as cameras to spy on enemies!" Lavi sounds like a little kid by the time he finishes and seems very proud that he knows a lot about the subject. Tim flies off of his hand and back onto Allen's head since Lavi likes using his hands when he talks.

"His name is Timcanpy and Cross gave him to me. Hey, I was thinking we should go out. You know, give Cross the house since it's his day off?" Allen says while taking his stereo remote and turning the music off.

"Yeah, that sounds fine. Where do you want to go?" Lenalee says while Kanda gets off of the floor and Lavi gets up from the bed.

"Let's just go to the town center and decide from there." Allen says and everybody agrees. They leave the house while saying bye to Cross and get into the car to their destination. Lavi's driving this time since it's his car and Allen's up front with him.

"Let's start at Krory's shop. I want to find a costume to put on hold before people actually start going there and take all the good ones." Lavi nods and drives into the main entrance for the town center. After a few minutes of searching, they find Krory's shop on a corner in the middle of the whole thing.

"Here we are! Come on Allen, now you get to meet Krory-chan!" Lavi rushes out of the car and into the shop with the others in tow.

"Ignore the name, Allen. Lavi likes to give people nicknames and Krory's is 'Krory-chan.'" Lenalee says to Allen while walking into the store followed by Kanda and Allen. Timcanpy flies up from his spot on Allen's head and flutters around.

"Ah, that makes sense." A tall, lean man gets dragged to the group, by Lavi, near the entrance. He has short, black hair with a long, white stripe hanging in the front. His ears are pointed and with his small smile, you can see pointed canine teeth as well. 'He looks like a vampire.'

"Hello, you must be Allen. Lavi's very persistent that I meet you." He stretches his hand out for Allen to take, "My name is Arystar Krory III, but you can just call me Krory." Allen shakes his hand with a polite smile.

"Nice to meet you, Krory, do you own this store?" Allen gestures to the items around the store after he got his hand back.

"Yes, my Grandfather used to own this store and he passed it down to me." After talking for a minute, they scattered throughout the store to look for costumes. Allen went to the board in the center where you can look at the costumes on display before picking them out. His eyes immediately got caught on the 'clowns' section, specifically, a wild-looking costume. He looks at the number goes to the area that has that specified number. He looks on the racks and picks it up with a triumphant sound.

"Hey, Allen, do you think this would be good?" Lenalee walks up to him holding up a bag with a picture of a black and red geisha dress, "If it is, then I saw a matching kimono for Kanda to wear~" Allen studies the dress for a second and looks back at Lenalee.

"I like it, it would look great on you." Lenalee thanks him and looks at the bag that Allen was holding.

"A clown? Ooh, go try it on while I go put this on!" She pushes Allen towards the men's dressing stalls and leaves to the woman's stalls. Allen goes into a free one and locks the door before undressing. He's very glad that there are doors and not curtains so that anyone can just walk in. He notices Tim up on the edge of the door looking down on him curiously. He takes his shirt off and stares at his left arm. The whole thing is pitch-black, including his fingernails which are rock hard. Above his elbow, the black rings around a few times ending on his shoulder.

'At least Cross let me get these to make it look like a tattoo.' Allen fingers these strange kunai-shaped marks that accentuate the last ring on his shoulder. 'I still don't like showing it though.' He then looks at the scars all over his torso and stomach, 'I don't even remember getting most of these.' Shaking his head from depressing thoughts, he continues undressing and putting on the costume. The under shirt and pants are black with silver highlights. It comes with a white overcoat and a feathered cowl attached at the top. The sleeves of the overcoat are each different; the left one having long, bladed fingers and a crown on the wrist, the right one has a big cuff on it and has cartoon-like hands. The last object is a silver mask with weird markings on it. He places the mask on his face and leaves the stall with Tim. He goes out to where the mirrors are and sees Lenalee fussing over Kanda in his kimono, trying to make it perfect like her dress.

"Hey guys, how's this look?" Lavi jumps out in a pirate costume, perfectly fitting his already placed eyepatch. He's wearing a black headband to make his hair look wild and a matching scarf is tied around his neck.

"It looks great Lavi. You'd make an awesome pirate!" Lenalee says while looking in a full-size mirror, brushing the bottom of the dress down. She looks back at Allen and gasps. "Allen, that looks amazing on you!" She runs towards Allen and drags him to the mirror she was just at so he could see himself in it.

"Wow, Moyashi, you look great as a clown." Lavi says while playing with the feathers on the cowl.

"Oh God, don't you start calling me that. And thanks Lavi, Lenalee. I wanted a clown costume because it reminds me of when I was little." Allen shrugs and takes off the mask to put on top of his head so he could see more clearly. Kanda, Lenalee, and Lavi share a look before looking back at Allen who is now adjusting the cowl on his shoulders.

"Reminds you of what Allen?" Lenalee asks while placing her hand on his shoulder. A soft smile played itself on Allen's face, as if remembering a fond memory.

"Before Cross became my guardian, I had a different guardian. He adopted me when I was really young and his name was Mana. He loved me like his own and he worked as a traveling clown. He would take me everywhere with him and let me work with him as a white-face clown. I did odd jobs to help ends meet, but it was really fun and I learned some skills while with him." Allen's smile seems more _real_ to the other three and they can't help but smile with him.

"You used to be a clown? That's so cool! What kind of stuff did you do?" Lavi asks, trying to get more out of the secretive boy.

"The usual clown stuff, really. I juggled, tightroped, rode elephants, and sometimes I would do acrobatics. With the extra jobs I did, I helped with storage, took care of the animals, and assisted with the cooking." Allen fixed his right cuff, thankful that the blades for his left sleeve come in a separate bag and aren't connected.

"Can you really juggle? You want to show us?" Lenalee asks in an excited tone to Allen. Allen looks around and sees a small basket with toy foam balls in them. He grabs five of them and throws them in the air one at a time. He catches the first one with his left hand and tosses it to his right, doing the same with the next, and the next, until all of them were being juggled high in the air with no flaws. After a few more juggles, Allen catches two in each hand and the fifth one is caught by Timcanpy who places it back in the basket with Allen.

"That was so cool Allen! You are getting that costume, right?" Lavi says while taking off the accessories that came with his costume.

"Yeah, I'm going to go take it off now, so that I can buy it." He leaves for his previous stall, but Tim decides to stay out with the other three.

"Did you see that? We got something out of his past! I can't believe that he used to be a clown!" Lenalee whispers to Lavi and Kanda.

"He said that he was adopted even before Cross." Kanda says while trying to sound as disinterested as he can.

"He did! Geez, how many parents has he had?" Lavi whisper-yells.

"What happened for him to have changed guardians twice…?" Lenalee whispers, slightly afraid of what could cause someone to have different guardians in such a short time. "What about his real parents?" Before anyone could say anything, Allen walked out of his stall and walked to the front of the store, oblivious of the three teens in a small circle in the middle of the floor. Tim flies away from the teens, in favor of being with Allen and watches as he pays for the costume. He thanks the man behind the register before returning to the back of the store to wait for his friends to get out of their own costumes. Lenalee gets a few more accessories for her and Kanda's costume while Lavi buys his own. Kanda and Lenalee pay for theirs together and the man behind the register makes a comment about how cute of a couple they are. Kanda just grumbles and takes the nag with more force needed. Lenalee laughs and thanks the man and the group of teens leave the shop after saying goodbye to Krory.

"So, where to next?" Before anyone could respond to Lavi's question, a sound, like a phone ringing, filled the air of the car. Lavi checks his pockets, as does Lenalee and Kanda, but find out that it's not their phone. Everybody looks towards Allen, who just sits there with a confused look.

"I don't have a phone, but I think it's coming from Tim…" The ringing continues as Allen inspects the golem before hesitantly pressing the cross that seems to cover the whole 'face.' Tim made a clicking sound, as if answering on an actual phone, and stayed in Allen's palm, waiting for him to start talking. Allen got the message and confusedly answered. "Hello…?"

"What took you so long? Whatever, look, I need you to come back. We've got some more of _those _guys creepin' around again and I need you to handle it." Allen lets out a groan and lets his head fall back against the seat.

"Really? I thought we got rid of them… I love how you come running to me, a 16 year old boy, whenever they catch up with us." Allen says with a teasing voice. "I'll be there in ten minutes, think you can hang on for that long?" Cross lets out a snort of amusement.

"Wow, when did you grow balls?" Allen shakes his head and says bye before hanging up.

"Do you think we could go back to my house for a little bit?" Allen asks after a moment.

"Sure man, but what was he talking about?" Lavi starts the car and drives back onto the main road. Another groan leaves Allen's mouth as he visibly slumps in his seat.

"Freakin' debt collectors. Before Cross sobered up, he used to use money like air. For women, wine, the works! When he got me, I immediately encountered a few of them and learned how to deal with them." Allen starts playing with the wings of Tim, who doesn't really mind it as long as he isn't too rough.

"Really? He just laid that off on you? That's horrible! How could someone just give that kind of responsibility to a child, nonetheless forcing him to confront danger like that?" Lenalee sounds appalled just by the thought of it, much less it actually happening to one of her friends.

"It's okay Lenalee! Cross was always nearby so that he could make sure that I wouldn't get hurt!" 'Too badly…' Allen added in his mind, choosing not to voice his thought in fear of how Lenalee would act. Lenalee pouts and crosses her arms, leaning into Kanda.

"Still isn't fair. I could call Child Services, you know!" Allen laughs a little and turns to look at her.

"Ah, but you're not going to right? I mean, if you did then I would be taken away from you guys and from Cross and that would be horrible…" Allen right now looked like a kicked puppy, but turned back in his seat before smirking. "Made you feel bad, didn't I?"

"You jerk! You're too good at making people pity you!" Lenalee kicks the back of Allen's chair before slumping into her seat again. They drive onto the road of Allen's house and park down the street. Allen gets out of the car and heads straight over to the three burly, scary looking men standing on his lawn.

"To what do I owe you visiting me, men?" Allen has a polite smile and an innocence radiating around him.

"You Cross' kid?" The man in the center of the group asks, seeming to be the leader. Lenalee, Kanda, and Lavi stand behind Allen, looking very unsure of the situation. Allen nods his head and tilts it to the side, keeping up his innocent façade.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything." The three men smirk and think of how easy this is going to be.

"See here kid, Cross owes us money and if we don't get paid, then we'll have to take something of equal value." The man takes a hold of Allen's chin and looks into his silver eyes. Allen gets rid of his façade and looks straight back at the man with a frown and sharp eyes.

"If you don't let go, then I'll gladly do it for you, sir." Allen takes a hold of the man's wrist and squeezes warningly. His voice has gone lower and cold. The three teens witnessing this notices that it sounds just like before when he challenged Kanda just this morning. The men laugh at Allen and the leader pulls his hand away.

"You've got spunk kid, I like that. Boys," He nods towards the small group behind Allen, "take care of the brats and I'll get this one." Before anyone had a chance to breath, the man was on his stomach on the ground with Allen on his back, pressing a gun against the side of his head.

"Don't even think about it, _boys._" Allen looks back at the other two men and points another gun at the two of them. "Unload your guns and toss them back." The two men follow diligently, scared that a small boy like him had actually gotten their boss down on the ground like that. "Kanda, get the guns." His voice left no room for argument, so he quickly gathered the guns and went back to his spot next to the frozen Lavi and shocked Lenalee. Allen presses the gun harder into the man's head when he felt him trying to struggle back up. "Guys, get in the house."

"But Alle-"

"_Now_." Allen interrupts Lenalee and the three friends shuffle into the house. Once in the house, they stay in the doorway, not sure what they should do. They started hearing yelling and it would seem that Cross has decided to join in. They hear his voice, but can't really make out the words. Then, a gunshot. The three jump and Lenalee lets out a lone tear in fear that it might've been Allen who was shot.

"What the Hell have we gotten into?" Lavi mumbles into the silence while Kanda holds Lenalee tightly to comfort her.

**Wow, I totally didn't mean to write 8 pages worth of this. When I noticed it was that long I was like 'well, crap' that's why it ends so abruptly. I had to stop to leave more story for the other chapters! They're going to be hungry if I do half of it in one chapter. By the way, thought of a better name, so don't get freaked out by that… I might actually change it a few times until I feel comfortable enough with an appropriate name for the story. Well, I'll talk to you next time, review please~!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I get so giddy when I see people favoriting/alerting/reviewing on my story~! You people have been so good to me, I don't know how I'll repay you. Oh yeah, update my story~ It has also been brought to my attention that I haven't made it very obvious that I made Lenalee and Kanda a couple (thank you andres15 for bringing that to my attention). Now you know. I also changed the genre to angst instead of hurt/comfort. I explained bits of the story to my friend (who is a fellow FanFiction addict) and she said that it seemed more like angst than hurt/comfort, so I'm taking her word for it. On to the story~!**

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

"Shit, what the hell did you do that for?" Cross mumbles to the now unconscious Allen lying on the couch. He has splatters of blood over his face and chest, the result of shooting someone while right on top of them. "Red, go get a wet towel so I can get this blood off of him." Lavi stumbles a bit while walking off into the kitchen to rummage around for a hand towel. Lavi soon comes back with a wet towel and hands it to Cross. He sits back down on the opposite couch of him with Kanda and Lenalee. The three watch over as Cross starts wiping the almost dried blood off of Allen's pale skin. While Cross was working on the last of the red, Allen groans and shifts a little. The teens jump from their seats and stand behind Cross, watch as Allen slowly opens his eyes and looks around.

"Cross…? Ugh, what happened?" Allen sits up with the help of Cross and holds his head, "Ow, my head. What happened?" He repeated when no one made any indications of answering him.

"You shot the guy then passed out, are you telling me you don't remember that?" Cross is very thankful that he got a house that is surrounded by trees and is very private, or someone would've called the cops and that would fuck everything up. Allen's eyes widen and he looks straight at Cross.

"I… _shot _him? Is he dead?" Allen asks with a wavering voice. Cross ignores the question and asks his own.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Allen thinks about it for a second before looking up at his three friends.

"I remember him grabbing my chin and… That's it?" Allen thinks for another moment, trying to recollect anything else that happened. His eyes widen to the size of pans and he looks back at Cross. "He had the symbol. I saw the tattoo on his neck then I blacked out." Allen stands up quickly, startling the other five in the room (Timcanpy's still there :D). "He had the symbol, Cross. Oh God, what if they found us? If they didn't know before, they do now since I just _killed _the guy!" Allen starts panicking and Cross takes a hold of his arm and shakes him.

"Calm the fuck down! I'll take care of it, just _calm down._" Allen takes a few breaths before nodding his head. Cross lets go of his arm and stalks over to the front door. "I'll be back in a few hours, don't leave the house." And with that, he's gone. Tim flutters around before landing on Lavi's shoulder, looking at his previously hectic master.

"Allen, what's going on…?" Lenalee asks quietly, carefully, not wanting to freak out Allen even further. He lets out a big sigh and rubs at his head, headache getting slightly better.

"It…" He swallows the thick lump growing in his throat and looks at his friends. 'Should I tell them? They _do _deserve to know…' While Allen has a mental debate, his face a neutral slate, while his eyes betray everything he's feeling. The teens notice that pain flash through his eyes. Grief that should be seen in a grown adult who has gone through hardships his whole life, not a 16 year old with his life barely even started. Allen sits back in his seat with a big sigh and runs a hand through his hair. "It started when I was little and I was with Mana, my father at the time." The friends take a seat on the couches, feeling that it might be a long story. "We were packing up to go to the next town where the circus was next headed to."

"_Mana! Do we need this?" A young boy with chestnut brown hair called out, holding up a small box filled with sewing supplies. A tall man with dark brown hair and in a formal suit looks at the small boy and inspects the contents of the box._

"_Yes, we do need that. Pack it in the car with the rest, Allen." Allen nods his small head and hurriedly places the box next to the other ones. After a few more boxes were packed, the two get into the car and drive away from the small apartment they were renting for the time being. "It's going to take quite a while to get there, so if you need anything tell me and I'll get it for you if I can. Okay, Allen?" Allen nods his head and smiles up at Mana, the only person who ever truly loved him. _

"My real parents gave me up when I was born because they were disgusted by me." Allen takes of his glove and pulls up his sleeve to show his friends his birth defect. Lenalee gasps while Kanda and Lavi widen their eyes.

"Does… does it hurt?" Lenalee asks after looking at it closely? Allen shakes his head no and watches as his friends seem… curious about it, not disgusted.

"Can I touch it?" Lavi asks with a smile and childish green eyes. Allen nods his head and Lavi's smile grew even bigger. Lavi strokes his arm a little before looking at the hand, specifically the back of it where it looks like as if a cross was burned into the skin. "Wow, this is so cool! And the skin's all soft, I thought it would be rough!" Lenalee strokes the arm too and is surprised that it is indeed soft. "Okay, you can continue!" Lavi pulls back and looks up at Allen, waiting for him to finish the story.

"Um… Okay then. Where was I? Oh yeah." _For the first hour, the car was filled with soft music from the radio and the two talking, but this peace was disrupted when a horrible screeching sound was heard. The car was crashed into on Mana's side, sending the car into a roll. Allen's screams were heard throughout the whole thing and finally when the car stopped, so did the screams._

"_Mana! Mana, wake up! Please!" Allen shakes the lifeless form of his father next to him in the seat, tears streaming down his cheeks from the shooting pain in his left arm." Mana, please get up!" A few hiccups escape his shaking form as he continues shaking his father. Mana coughs, blood splattering onto his chest and the metal sticking from it. Ambulances could be heard now and people shouting. The truck that ran into them catches on fire and the firemen hurry to get the survivors out before it explodes. "Mana! It's okay, they're going to get us!" Mana looks over at his son and struggles to get his right arm up. He strokes his cheek and more tears fall from Allen's big, silver eyes. "It hurts Mana, make it stop." The firemen are now cutting into the car door on Allen's side, unable to reach the driver's side because of the truck still there and about to blow._

"_Allen, listen to me. Keep walking, never forget that. No matter what, keep walking, never stop. I love you Allen." Allen reaches out to grab his hand, but is pulled away by the firemen and not a moment too soon. The truck finally explodes and the fire reaches to the car and to Allen. Specifically, his left arm. The fire burns at his arm and at the angry red plates that have been there since birth._

"_Mana! No, Mana!" The men take away Allen from the fire engulfed car and into an ambulance after putting out the fire on his arm. In the ambulance, he pasts out from the pain. A few days later he wakes up in a hospital room and starts panicking. Because of the heart monitors, a doctor comes in and calms the child._

"_Shhh, calm down. You're in a hospital, we had to treat you after that car crash~" The doctor soothingly rubs his hand on the child's back. The doctor is a big, round man with a seemingly permanent smile. Allen feels a little uneasy around the man, but is nice out of courtesy. Over the next few days, the man reveals himself as Adam, but people call him 'Millenium Earl,' or just Earl. Allen does not dare ask about his father, he knew that if he was still alive, he would be there right beside him as he healed. "Allen~ Earl calls to Allen once entering the room one day. "Other than you're father, do you know of any other relatives~" Allen thinks about it before shaking his head no. The Earl's grin grew even bigger and creeps Allen out even further. The aura of the doctor gave him a really bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Well, as it turns out, you're father had a younger brother~! And I knew him personally~" Allen eyes go wide at this._

"_H-He had a younger b-brother?" Allen doesn't know why he stuttered and why he was so scared of this man at the moment. Maybe it was the dangerous glint in the doctor's eyes, or just the feeling he kept giving off._

"_Yup~!" The Earl says too happily, it sounded almost forced. "He actually betrayed me, tried to kill me~ Even after everything I had done for him~!" The crazed doctor pulls out a long knife from his pocket and looks at Allen, his smile not faltering a bit. "And now that I have his 'precious nephew,' I can repay him~" the Earl lunges forward and covers his mouth before he could scream out for help. He takes the knife and brings it down on his forehead, above his left eye. He makes an upside-down star and continues it down to his cheek, over his eye and ending it at his jaw. The whole time, Allen is screaming bloody murder under the Earl's hand. Tears free-falling from his eyes, his right cheek stained with them whereas the left one is stained with blood as well. Allen tries to move the man's hand with his right, since his left arm is in a cast. After he finishes, the earl pulls away to admire his work. Allen keeps his eyes shut tight, trying to keep the blood out of them. "There~! Now I can claim you anytime I want~" Allen feels something hitting his head and passes out again._

"He took me from the hospital and kept me locked up somewhere. I think it was his house, I don't know. I was in this room and I had free will of the room, but I wasn't allowed out of it and there were no windows so I had no way of telling how many days past. I don't have much memory of the time I stayed there, for some reason. After a long time, Cross had came and saved me. He took me away and told me I was there for eight months. I couldn't tell him what happened to me during my stay there because I have no recollection of it. I also finally got a look in a mirror and saw that my hair had turned stark-white because of the shock." Allen has his feet on the couch and his arms wrapped around his legs with his chin resting on his knees. "Cross was an old friend of Mana and Mana said that he wanted Cross to take care of me if something would ever happen. He got the message about the car crash a day after I was taken from the hospital, that's why he wasn't there sooner." Lenalee rubs her hand on his back, like a mother comforting her child. Lavi has his eyes down cast, staring at the floor trying to process everything he was just told. Kanda's in similar shape, face adorned with a frown and staring at the space on the floor in front of Allen. "When I was being held at his house, I remember the people there having small tattoos placed somewhere on their body. It's a symbol representing your level; the lowest ones are called Akuma and they do all the dirty work."

"Like henchmen?" Lenalee asks and Allen nods his head.

"They have a celtic cross tattoo with an 'A' under it. It's always somewhere visible on the body like the wrist, or on the arm. The debt collector, if he even was one, had one on the side of his neck. Like I said before, I remember seeing that, then waking up here with a headache." Lavi puts his hand up to his mouth, in a thinking position before looking up at Allen holding himself on the couch with Lenalee still comforting him.

"Hey Allen," Everybody looks up at him, "Do you get headaches often, like out of the blue?" Allen pulls a strange face, "Just answer the question." He thinks about it before nodding.

"Quite a bit actually. They would just start for no apparent reason." Lavi nods his head before continuing.

"Other than the time at that guy's house, did you ever lose track of time, or have no recollection of some events that people would say happened?" Lenalee and Kanda look at Lavi strangely this time, wondering what he's getting at with the questions.

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, there was this one time where I was waiting for Cross outside of a building. This guy came up and tried robbing me. I felt the knife pressing into my side, then I blacked out. Next thing I know, I'm being held back by Cross and I see the guy a few feet in front of me all bruised up on the ground. Cross had told me that I had started fighting him and he lost the knife. He got a few punches in, but not as bad as to what I did to him." Lavi laughs a little and places his hand on Allen's shoulder.

"Allen, my boy, I know why you have missing memories~!" The other three look at Lavi with wide eyes.

"Y-You know why I can't remember?" Lavi nods his head enthusiastically, like he knows a secret and is about to tell it to the world. "Well then, why?"

"You have dissociative identity disorder! Otherwise known as split personality. Because of your tragic past, and no way of dealing with it, your mind has created another persona and put all the bad memories and experiences within that one. Therefore, creating a whole different person within you. That's why you seem like a whole different person sometimes! Whenever see or hear something that has to do with anything bad in your past you turn into that other person." Allen looks down and thinks about what he just said.

"That… _Does_ make sense… Is it dangerous? Like, to the people around me?" Timcanpy lands on Lenalee's knee and looks up at his master. Allen pats his head absentmindedly, waiting for Lavi to answer the question.

"It _can_ be and depending on the behavior of your 'extra,' he'll only hurt those who deserve it." He picks up Tim and holds him in his hand, "Like, if I were to try and hurt Tim here, you would probably react by trying to hurt me." Tim flies off of Lavi's hand and onto Allen's hand. He bears his sharp teeth at Lavi as a warning to actually try hurting him.

"So, he'll only hurt those who deserve it and not innocent people?" Lavi nods his head and Allen sighs, very relieved. "That's good. I don't know what I would do if I started hurting people who didn't deserve it."

"What about Yu-chan?" Lavi asks and Kanda glares at the back of his head. Allen and Lenalee laugh a little.

"No, he deserves, every punch thrown at him by me, since he's always the one to start it!" Allen yells the last part and looks pointedly and Kanda.

"What are you trying to say, Beansprout?" Kanda asks darkly and grabs his trusted Mugen as a silent threat.

"I was just saying since you're so hard-headed, you tend to be the one to start arguments between us, BaKanda." Allen stands and walks into the kitchen with Lavi following.

"Oi, don't walk away!"

"Is anyone else hungry? I could make us something if you want." Allen asks while looking around the wall at Lenalee and Kanda.

"Sure Allen, that sounds great!" Allen nods his head and kicks Lavi out of the kitchen. "Last time you were in here, you almost burnt down the house."

"Oh come on! One freakin' time!" Lavi pouts before heading back into the living room and Lenalee takes his spot in the kitchen.

"_Now_ we can talk. Okay, back to my earlier question, do you read Fan Fiction too?" Kanda tries to block out their talking since he already has to deal with it when he hangs with Lenalee for too long. Kanda looks over at Lavi who looks ready to jump at Tim who's sitting on the table, stretching his wings.

"Oi, Usagi." Lavi pauses mid-pounce and looks up at Kanda. "How did you know so much about that split personality thing, anyway?" Lavi shrugs before snatching Timcanpy up from the table.

"Quite a few soldiers have had it, surprisingly, and since I have to know everything that has to do with the Army, I studied it." Lavi leans back on the couch and places Tim on his lap to look at.

"Liar." Lavi tenses and looks at Kanda. Tim bites his finger when he looks away and Lavi hisses in pain. Tim flies into the kitchen, leaving the two boys alone. "I've known you too long to know when you're lying, now spill it." Lavi frowns and opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by Lenalee.

"Here you go boys. We just made sandwiches with chips, hope that's okay." Lenalee passes a plate to each one and goes back into the kitchen to grab her own before coming back and sits next to Kanda. Kanda sends a look to Lavi, discreetly telling him that they're not done with that topic.

"Hey Allen," Lavi calls out, ignoring the look Kanda sent his way, "Do you always carry two guns wherever you go, or are we just special like that?" Allen comes out with his plate and sits next to Lavi.

"No, I always carry some kind of weapons with me." He says this so seriously that Lavi can't help, but laugh.

"Well, not _always,_ right?" Lavi sets his plate on the table after biting a chunk out of it.

"Actually, I always have a weapon on my person. It's a safety precaution and Cross insists that I do." Allen takes a few small bites out of his sandwich and keeps the plate in his lap to catch the crumbs that fall.

"Even at school?" Lenalee gasps out. Allen nods his head, for he is still chewing and it's very rude to talk with your mouth full. "Allen! That's against the rules! You could get suspended, even expelled, if you get caught!" Allen swallows what's in his mouth so he could respond.

"Seriously, Lenalee, would you ever expect the small, innocent kid who is polite to everyone he meets," He gestures towards himself, "To be holding a weapon?"

"Well… No, not really… But still, you could get into a lot of trouble!" Lenalee harshly places her plate on the table and crosses her arms.

"It's okay, Lenalee, I only bring a small-bladed knife to school. It doesn't break the rules since it's less than three inches. There's no way I could get into trouble." Lenalee accepts this and uncrosses her arms, smiling at Allen. Allen returns the smile and stands up, collecting the plates before heading into the kitchen to wash them, Timcanpy following him the whole way.

"Man, today has been tiring." Lavi slumps in his seat and to accentuate his point further, he groans loudly.

"Well, after the day we just had, I'm not surprised. At least it's only Saturday and we have all day tomorrow to rest." Lenalee assures Lavi while he stays in the uncomfortable position on the couch. Lavi's phone starts ringing and he answers it, only shifting a little to reach his phone.

"Yello?" Kanda rolls his eyes at the greeting, "I'm at Allen's house, wh-" Lavi pulls the phone away from his ear with a wince as yelling was heard. "Yeah, okay! I'll be there! God gramps have an aneurysm, won't you?" Louder shouting was heard and Lavi just hangs up, knowing that he wasn't going to stop yelling.

"Are you in trouble?" Allen asks walking into the room.

"With him, I'm always in trouble. Whatever, he's just going to add more books he wants me to read tonight, I don't care." Lavi shrugs and stands from the couch followed by Lenalee and Kanda. "I think we're going to head out Allen. We're pretty tired from today and Yu needs his beauty rest." Kanda kicks Lavi in the shin, making him take in a sharp intake of breath.

"Yeah Allen, we'll see you on Monday, 'Kay?" Lenalee hugs Allen for a second before pulling back. Lavi latches onto Allen, squeezing him to death.

"Bye Moyashi-chan!" Allen kicks Lavi in the same spot Kanda did before while hugging back. "Owww…" Lavi pulls away and starts limping down the stairs to the door. Kanda just nods his head as a good bye and Allen waves.

"Hey, guys?" Allen looks at the three, pausing in their movements on the stairway. "You don't regret do you? Becoming my friend, I mean…"

"Of course not! We'll stay your friend 'til the end of time Allen and nothing can change that!" Lavi shouts from the open doorway. Lenalee and Kanda nod their heads in agreement, causing a real smile to mark Allen's features. His friends can't help, but to smile every time they see that smile, not the fake one he gives to everybody.

"Thank you, good night." They leave the house and Allen locks the door after them. Before he could make his way up the stairs, someone started knocking on the door. "What the…?" Allen opens the door again only to see Lavi with his costume bag, previously forgotten in the car. Allen thanks him again and Lavi hugs him one more time before running off to his car.

"Se ya Allen!" Allen shakes his head and closes the door, relocking it and heading upstairs to his room. He hangs the bag in his wardrobe and goes into his connected bathroom, deciding to take a shower. He makes sure that Timcanpy stays in the bedroom and locks the bathroom door, a habit he couldn't get rid of. After the shower, he dries off and changes into a tank top and loose pajama pants. He turns off the light and crawls under the thick comforter of his bed. Timcanpy joining him a second later, rubbing up on his cheek and laying down on his upright palm. Allen smiles tiredly and looks at him through lidded eyes. "Good night Tim." He replies by snuggling into the hand and Allen yawns before falling asleep. A jingling could be heard through the silence of the house and the front door opens. Cross walks in and locks the door behind him, tossing his keys on a small table by the door. He looks around and walks down the hall to Allen's room. He slowly opens the door and lets in a line of light, hitting Allen's legs. Tim flaps his wings and crawls away from his spot before flying off the bed and to the open door. He perches himself on Cross' head and Cross closes the door, leaving to his own room to sleep for the night.

**Time Break- Next Month, A Week Before Halloween**

"Here you go Allen, it's an invitation to my Halloween party!" Lenalee hands Allen a folded piece of paper with little bat and pumpkin designs all over it with the occasional black cat. "You're coming right?" Allen takes the slip of paper and inspects the cover.

"Of course Lenalee, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Allen puts the paper in his binder and picks up a paintbrush from the table. He resumes his painting on the canvas as Tiedoll makes his rounds around the classroom, commenting on his piece before moving onto the next student.

"It's this Sunday, so make sure you're free. My brother goes all out for the major holidays and rents out a warehouse. The address is on the card and it's not too far from here." Allen nods as he receives the information, making sure to keep working and pay attention to Lenalee at the same time. "You where your costume to it, of course, and I'm pretty sure we're doing a costume contest, not too sure yet." Lenalee shrugs and continues working on her own piece. The bell rings and everybody gets cleaned up, trying to leave for their next class. Allen has a very uneventful civics class with Lavi, then goes to gym. Unfortunately, Komui couldn't get anyone of his three friends into his gym class. He said something about 'too much schedule changing,' but Allen didn't really mind. He just doesn't like the whispers behind his back, the occasional ball being thrown at him, and the rough shoves in the locker room. Sure, he was used to it by now, but it doesn't make it hurt any less.

"He's such a freak, why does he hang out with Lavi, Kanda, and Lenalee?"

"I heard that his parents abuse him. That's why he has those scars on him."

"I heard that he always wears those gloves because his mom dunked his hands in boiling water when he was younger." He hates it when someone judges another person just by their appearance. That's why he welcomed Lavi, Lenalee, and Kanda with open arms into his life. Lavi can't really say crap about him since he has one eye, Lenalee's just really nice like that, and Kanda, although an asshole, doesn't judge someone by the way they look. He calls Allen Moyashi, but that's his nickname for him and Lavi told him once he only gives nicknames to the people he really cares about. Allen quickly changes into his gym clothes, thankful that he wore a long sleeved shirt undershirt, and locks his locker. He's the first one out of the locker room, in fear that he might get pulled back into it by some bullies if he were the last one. They start the warm-ups with jogging around the gym and start stretching. The teacher blows on his whistle, catching the attention of everybody in the room.

"Okay, we're starting jump rope today. There are posters around the gym showing you different jumps and I want you to try those out. If you have trouble with one, just come talk to me and I'll help you." The students scramble and grab the single ropes from the rack on the side of the gym. After a few whips to his own arms, Allen gets the hang of jumping with the rope. He moves to the closest poster and reads the directions. Before he could start actually jumping, a rope flings at him from out of nowhere and slaps his right cheek. He falls back out of shock and holds his cheek with his right hand. He looks up at the culprit, a tall brown-haired boy with a sneer on his face, Erick.

"Look, now it matches with the left side." Erick's friends laugh from behind him. Allen figures that there's going to be an angry red line left since he just got whipped with a rubber jump rope and if his arms are any indication to what the effects are, then he's very correct with this assumption. The teacher walks back through the main doors and the group of kids walk away before he looks their way. The teacher looks around and sees Allen getting up from the ground, holding a hand up to his face. He jogs up to him while avoiding the swing ropes around him.

"Walker, you okay?" Allen removes his hand and looks at his teacher, Mr. Stames.

"Is it bad?" He tries opening it, but found that it hurt doing so, so he keeps his right eye shut. Mr. Stames looks at his face with a visible wince.

"What happened?" He reaches up to touch it slightly, but stopped when Allen flinched away.

"Haha, I whipped myself, sorry about that." Allen nervously scratches the back of his neck while Mr. Stames stares at him with an 'are you serious?' look. Mr. Stames sighs after a moment.

"You know, you're going to have to tell me who they are one of these days… Go get changed then head to the nurse. Class is almost over anyway and I'll give you a pass to go when you get out from the locker room." Allen nods his head and jogs to locker room, quickly changing and getting the pass from his teacher with a 'thank you.' He leaves the gym and goes down the hallway to the nurse's office. He gives the pass to the nurse and sits down in one of the chairs. The nurse gives him an icepack and tells him to keep it on his eye and wait there until the bell rang. Once the bell rings, ten minutes later, Allen leaves the office after thanking the nurse and throws away the icepack in a trash bin in the hallway. He finds the closest bathroom and looks in the mirror to see what Lance had done to his face. He can now open his eye, thankfully, but a red welt was left, starting above his eyebrow and ending at his jaw.

"It does kind of match…" Allen says out loud without much thought. He doesn't really react to the acts of bullies as badly as he did when he was younger. He learned to just go with it and it's better than fighting back and making things worse. He leaves the bathroom and heads back upstairs to his next class, English. With Kanda. Crap. 'Kanda's going to _kill_ me.' Even though they fought, Kanda was like an overprotective brother when it came to stuff like this. Just add Lenalee's Mother Hen nature and Lavi's own overprotective nature, then someone was going to get hurt. Obviously, that someone is whoever decided to pick on Allen that day. Allen lets out a big sigh before entering the classroom, where Kanda is already in. Damn. And they have a sub today, so they're having a free day, giving Kanda no way to be distracted from Allen. Kanda looks over at the door and sees Allen standing there. He looks him over, knowing since none of the three of us could be placed in his gym class, he's going to get picked on. He looks at his face and sees a red line on his cheek. Well, that's normal, but wait. Two red lines? Kanda focuses on his right cheek and sees that it's actually a welt, like someone had whipped him! Oh, _Hell_ no. No one hits the Moyashi except for him!

"All right class, since you're teacher isn't here today, I'm going to give you these worksheets for you to work on, then the rest of the class is yours." The substitute says over the voices of the students. Allen rushes off to the back of the class, away from Kanda. The worksheets are passed out and are finished quickly. As soon as Kanda had finished his, he gave it to the teacher and stomped to the back of the class, where Allen could be seen visibly shrinking. Kanda grabs a nearby chair and sits on the side of the desk and slams his hand down. The noise goes unnoticed by the surrounding students, too distracted by their own conversations to care.

"Moyashi." Kanda growls out and Allen dares to look at him, being careful to not show the right side of his face even further. Kanda grabs his chin and roughly turns his head to the right. He inspects the red line, the frown on his face growing deeper by the second. "Who did it?"

"It's nothing, I'm fi-"

"I said," Kanda stops him from finishing, "Who. Did. It?" He releases his hold on Allen's chin and sits back in his chair, not looking away from him. Allen gives up and slumps in his chair, knowing that Kanda's not going to give up until he gets an answer.

"Erick did it. It was in gym and we're doing jump rope, so he whipped me." Kanda's aura gets very dark and menacing at this revelation. "But it's okay! You don't have to go on a rampage or anything!"

"Damn it, Moyashi, you can kick ass, so why don't you?" Kanda sounds angry, but he's angrier at Erick than Allen, he just happens to be here to take the heat.

"I don't like violence, besides it never solves anything, BaKanda." Kanda's retort is cut short by the bell ringing once again. "Come on, we're going to be late for lunch." Allen and Kanda get up from their seats and head to their lockers, which happen to be across from each other. They switch their bonders for their lunches and head downstairs where the lunch room is. Lavi and Lenalee are already there since their 4th period classes are downstairs and Lavi's talking up a storm with a random hot girl that was walking by. Kanda kisses Lenalee on the cheek as he sits down and Allen sits across them, watching as Lavi comes back with a very apparent red hand on his cheek.

"You're shameless, Lavi." Lenalee comments as he sits next to Allen.

"Eh, maybe. Yo' Allen, what happened to your face?" Lavi looks closer at the mark and pokes it, eliciting a yelp of pain from Allen. "Oh God, sorry!"

"It's okay Lavi, just don't touch it. It's still a bit raw." Allen cups his hand over it with a wince and Lavi frowns.

"Well, what happened?" Lenalee asks, clearly worried.

"That punk, Erick, got him with a jump rope in gym." Kanda answers with gritted teeth, wanting to punch something right now, since the school doesn't allow him to bring Mugen to school.

"Oh God, Allen, are you okay?" Lenalee turns her Mother Hen mode on and tends to Allen.

"It's fine Lenalee, It'll be gone by tomorrow." Allen smiles to reassure her and holds back a wince that came with it. Lavi sends a look to Kanda and he nods back while Lenalee and Allen are distracted. The message was very clear, 'After school, we're finding him.'

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**I don't really like this chapter. Well, that's what I get for writing 70% of it drunk with coffee and 3 in the morning. I'm using my real teachers for each class because writers use the characters as the teachers too much and I guess I want to be different~:D Halloween party's soon! That's going to be fun writing, especially with what I have planned~ *cue laughing maniacally* Anyway, writing what Lavi and Kanda have planned for Erick (also a real person at my _old_ school) is going to be great. And if you're wondering why Allen didn't go into 'dark mode' because of the thing with Erick, it's because he wasn't in any **_**real**_** danger. Sure, getting whipped by a rubber jump rope hurts like a bitch, but nothing life threatning there~ I've always wanted that kid to get what he deserved, he's such a jerk! Please review and I'll update as soon as I can~!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**People, just alerting and favoriting the story does not let the author know you like the story and wish for it to continue. All that does is tell the authors you're saying **_**'I'm kinda into this, but not really. I'm going to subscribe it so that they know that it's good and not review since the story isn't worth my time.'**_** Yeah, it's depressing 'cause it's true. Please take the time to write a review to tell the author that you're really interested, it gets our spirit up and we tend to write better when we're happy. Thank you.**_** I'm using all my teachers that I actually like for this story, which explains why I used Tiedoll as the art teacher and the rest are real ones. By the way, here are the ages if you were wondering: Allen and Lenalee-16, Kanda and Lavi-18.**

"He'll be here in a while Yu, so stop scaring people." Kanda turns his glare to Lavi before sending it back to the random people passing by. He didn't hit Lavi just now because he's saving it for when they get Erick.

"While we're waiting, you want to answer my question?" Kanda leans on the brick wall of the alleyway their waiting in.

"What question?" Lavi tilts his head to the right to see out of the alley, onto the street, looking for any sign of the guy who whipped Allen.

"The one about you knowing all that crap about the personality split thing." Lavi tenses and looks at Kanda with a frown. After a moment of staring, Kanda not backing down one bit, Lavi sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

"Fine, I'll tell you, but you better not tell anyone else. Got it?" Kanda scoffs, "I mean it, Kanda." He seems surprised for a moment before nodding his head. Lavi only ever uses his other name when it was really serious, all jokes aside. "When I was younger, before I met you and was traveling with Panda jiji, I used to have it. His name was 'Deak,' lame name right? And he was all super serious and junk, everything I'm not. Gramps told me that he actually tried to kill someone, but I didn't catch all the details, I was half out of it because of a blow to my head. Anyway, one day, he just went away." Kanda's eyebrow went up and he looked at Lavi with a face that said 'what the Hell are you talking about?' "I know it's weird! I mean, things like that don't just go away like that. It takes time and therapy and all that junk, but a month before I met you, he just left." Lavi shrugs his shoulders and leans his head against the brick.

"So, in the eight years I've known you, 'Deak' has never come out?" Lavi shakes his head after lifting it from the brick. "With the way you described him, he and Moyashi's own would get along great." Lavi smiles at the sarcasm basically dripping for that sentence and before he could make a comment, Kanda pushes himself off the wall and looks out the alleyway. "He's here." Lavi looks over and, low and behold, there he is walking down the sidewalk like he owns the place.

"You ready?" Kanda nods his head, "Then let the games begin!" He runs out of the alley and makes sure Erick doesn't see him coming. "Yo! Erick, my man! How's it goin'?" Lavi walks up to him and slings an arm around his shoulder, acting like an old friend.

"Hey Lavi, it's been going. What you been up to?" Lavi starts guiding him to the alley where he just came from.

"Well, I have this little punk who's practically _begging _to be fucked with. You might know him, kinda small, white hair, scar over his eye?" Erick is silent for a moment before nodding his head.

"Yeah, I know him. Whipped his ass in gym today, actually. What about it?" They're standing in the alley now, where Kanda is in the same spot, looking kind of bored despite the excitement in his head at getting to hurt this douche.

"Well, Kanda and I have something for you and it has everything to do with _Allen._" Lavi's smile disappears and he pushes Erick into Kanda who grabs his arms and pins him to the wall.

"What the fuck dude? Let me go!" Erick struggles and Kanda's hold tightens, making him gasp in pain. "Fuck! What the Hell man?"

"We're just giving you what you deserve, Erick." Lavi's face is devoid of any emotion, as is Kanda's. "And this is what you get for messing with Allen." Lavi punches him in the stomach making him keel over, Kanda letting go for a moment to punch him himself. They only hit him a few times on the back and stomach, so that there are no visible marks.

"Don't fuck with the Moyashi, or we'll fuck with you. Got it?" Kanda snarls out and Erick nods his head, not wanting to use his voice in fear of angering them even more. With that, Kanda and Lavi leave Erick to wallow in pain before someone sees them.

"So, where to now?" It's said so casually, as if they didn't just beat someone up. Lavi intertwines his fingers behind his head and looks towards Kanda.

"I have to get to Lenalee's, I was supposed to be there earlier, but I was a bit preoccupied." Lavi smiles and gets into the driver seat of the car. He starts the car and drives off in the direction of Lenalee's house, thankfully not too far from there. After dropping Kanda off, he drives to Allen's house to surprise him. He parks in the driveway and literally skips up to the doorway. As his hand comes up to knock on the door, he hears yelling coming from inside. Before he could react, the door flies open and a startled Allen stands there for a second before passing Lavi and slamming the door shut. A second later, shattering glass could be heard behind the door. Allen doesn't even wince and grabs Lavi's arm, dragging him to the car.

"Let's go, I'm staying at your house for a while." Lavi didn't even notice the gym bag and backpack he's carrying until now.

"Wait, what happened? What was all that about?" Allen opens the back door and tosses his bags in. He climbs into the passenger side and slams the door. Lavi jogs to the other side and slides into his own seat. He turns on the car and drives off, Allen lest out a big sigh and rubs at his eyes.

"Sometimes," Allen starts after a moment of silence, "Cross will get really stressed and get back into old habits. Whenever he gets drunk, he blows up at every little thing and since I just happen to be there, he takes it out on me. He doesn't hurt me or anything, just yells a lot. It rarely happens, but when it does, I just pack a bag and keep out of the house for a few days." Lavi glances at Allen before returning his attention to the road.

"I don't think that's very safe, Allen. I'm kinda regretting not letting Lenalee call Child Services." Allen shoots up in his seat and stares at Lavi with wide eyes, "Just kidding dude, but seriously, if you ever need to crash, then just call and I'll come get you." Allen relaxes and smiles at Lavi.

"Thank you, Lavi. Like I said before, it _rarely _happens, so no need to get worked up." Lavi rolls his eyes, but nods anyway. A little time afterwards, they arrive at Lavi's house and get out of the car. Lavi grabs Allen's gym bag from the back and walks up to the door. He walks in with Allen following.

"Hey, gramps! I've got someone here I want you to-" A small, elderly man flies through the air and kicks Lavi in the head, sending him to the ground.

"Disrespectful brat! What did I say about calling me that?" The man seems to have dark circles around his eyes and has no hair except for a patch of hair sticking out of his head. "Hello, my name is Bookman. You are Allen Walker, I presume?" Allen looks at the man with wide eyes then remembers his manners.

"Yes, you are correct. It's nice to meet you, Bookman." He shakes his hand and looks back at Lavi who's rubbing his head in a sitting position.

"Allen's having some trouble at home, can he stay a while until things blow over?" Bookman looks at Lavi, then back to Allen.

"That's fine. I hope Cross isn't giving you too much trouble."

"How do you know I live with Cross?" Lavi gets up from his spot and stretches as Allen stares at Bookman in slight shock.

"It's part of my job. Cross Marian is a general and it's my job to know everything about the Army." Allen nods, remembering Lavi saying something about that. Lavi takes Allen upstairs and into a small guess room with books lining the walls and a bed in the center of it.

"Sorry about the room, I haven't had a chance to go through it and clean, but it'll have to do." Allen sits on the bed and sets his bag on the ground next to it.

"It's okay, Lavi, I really appreciate everything you're doing for me." Lavi tosses the gym bag onto the bed and leans against the wall by the door.

"Naw, it's nothing. You know I can't _not_ help a damsel in distress." Allen grabs a nearby book and chucks it at Lavi's head, who dodges it at the last second. "Sorry, just a joke!"

"Better be." Allen mumbles before digging through his backpack for his homework.

"Seriously, you're going to do homework?" He shrugs his shoulders and looks for a pencil.

"Just because I'm not at my house doesn't mean I'm not going to school." Lavi sighs and walks up to him, picking up his binder and papers. "Hey, what are doing?" Lavi makes a motion for Allen to follow him and walks out of the room into his own.

"If you're going to work, then I'll work with you." Lavi shrugs his shoulders and places Allen's stuff on the bed before jumping onto it. The bed is pretty big, a king size, so it can fit four grown men. Allen has no problem getting on the bed and crossing his legs to get more comfortable. Lavi gets his own bag and digs around for his homework. "I might be a senior, but it doesn't mean that I can fall back on my work, especially since we just started school." Allen himself is a sophomore, but he still understands and nods.

After they finish their homework, they go downstairs for dinner. After dinner, they wash up and go to bed, Allen in the guest room, and Lavi in his own. "Ugh, shut up." Lavi slams on his alarm clock, stopping the godforsaken sound. He stays in bed for a moment before getting up, groaning loudly. "God, I hate mornings." He stretches his back, similar to a cat, and multiple cracks resound in the room. He shuffles out of his room yawning and stumbles up to Allen's door. "Allen, time to wake up!" He walks into the dark room, rubbing at his eyes and walks up to the bed. He places his hand on his shoulder and lets out a yelp when Allen grabs him. Allen flips Lavi onto the bed under him, straddling his waist. His hands tighten around Lavi's neck, but not so much. "Allen! What are you doing?" He grabs his wrists and pulls them away from his throat. He looks up at Allen and notices that his face is flushed and his eyes are glazed over, not fully aware of what's going on. "Moyashi!" Allen blinks, looking down at Lavi and jerks his hands back.

"L-Lavi, what…?" He trails off, very confused with the situation. He throws his leg over on one side to let Lavi up and off the bed. He tries standing himself, but his knees buckle and he almost falls to the ground if Lavi wasn't there to catch him.

"You okay, Allen?" He helps Allen back onto the bed and places his hand against his forehead, feeling heat come off his body. "Damn, you're burning up." Allen didn't even know he was panting until now and he felt really dizzy.

"Lavi, sorry for… jumping you… it's a… reflex." Allen's grip on Lavi's forearms is strong, trying to keep himself upright.

"It's okay, Allen, did you feel like this last night?" Allen shakes his head and regrets doing so immediately, his head feeling like it were hit with a hammer multiple times. "Shit, okay, I'm going to lay you down and get gramps, 'kay?" He doesn't wait for an answer and runs out of the room to the kitchen and sees Bookman reading a newspaper. He looks up at Lavi and sets his paper down when seeing at his panicked expression. "Something's wrong with Allen." He rushes out of his seat and follows Lavi into the guest room where Allen is panting on the bed, holding his head in a vice-like grip.

"It hurts, it hurts. Make it stop, please." Allen begs with his eyes clenched closed. Bookman wrenches his hands away from his head and places his hand on the boy's forehead like Lavi did before. Allen whimpers and curls up into a ball on the bed, feeling the pain from his head shoot up and down to the rest of his body. Bookman hits a nerve spot on his head and Allen falls limp.

"Why'd you do that?" Lavi screeches looking at his now unconscious friend.

"I did it so that he wouldn't move to much. If he's passed out then he will be more calm and not panic." Bookman pulls the covers off and sits him up with the help of Lavi.

"Panic? Why would he panic?" Bookman walks out of the room and Lavi follows carrying Allen bridal style.

"Because, his mind is fighting himself right now and it would try to disorientate him if he were awake." They walk into the living room and place Allen on the couch. He whimpers a little and curls up again, like when he was in the bed.

"Fighting himself? So, you knew that he had split personality?" Bookman nods his head and instructs Lavi to get some cold water and a few rags. When he comes back, he soaks one of the rags in the bucket of water and places it on Allen's head to help the fever.

"Cross mentioned it a while back when he had first taken Mr. Walker in." Another towel is placed around under his neck. "You can stay home today since I have some business. All you can do is wait until he wakes up and make sure the fever stays down." Lavi nods as Bookman starts collecting his papers from the table and puts them in a suitcase. "If anything else happens, call me if you don't know what to do."

"Will do, Panda." Bookmen slaps the back of his head and leaves the house to go to work. Lavi sits there for a moment, thinking about what to so next. The house phone starts ringing and he gets up to get it. "Hello?"

"Lavi! Thank God, I thought something had happened," Lenalee's voice comes through the phone, sounding relieved. "I didn't see you come to school and you wouldn't answer your cell. I haven't seen Allen either, but I have no way of reaching him."

"Lenalee, it's okay. I'm fine and so is Allen, kind of. He crashed at my house last night and when I went to wake him up, he had this killer headache and a really bad fever. I had gramps look at him and he said that his mind is fighting him." He looks back at Allen who's panting seemed to have gotten worse.

"…His mind is fighting him?" Lenalee asks very unsure if she heard right.

"Yeah, like, the _other_ Allen is fighting him basically. I'm not too sure what's going on, all I know is that I have to keep his fever down and wait until he wakes up." He could here Lenalee talking faintly, probably telling Kanda what he just said.

"I guess that makes sense. We'll come over after school with your guys' work, is that okay?" Lavi nods, but remembers that she can't see him.

"Yeah, that'd be great. I'll keep you posted if anything changes." They both hang up after saying their goodbyes and Lavi returns to Allen's side. He takes the rags and dumps them back in the bucket to recool them. 'If his fever doesn't go down, I'm going to have to give him a bath or something to cool him down.' He looks back at the phone and bites on the inside of his cheek. 'I don't think he'd want me to call Cross, especially after yesterday.' Lavi spends the next 7 hours making sure that Allen's fever stays down to a manageable point, since it refused to go down further. Before he knew it, the door was being knocked on, signaling the arrival of his two friends. "It's open." The front door opens and Lenalee and Kanda come in, going straight to the living room.

"Is he doing okay?" Lenalee sits by Allen legs and feels his forehead as Lavi changes the towels again.

"Yeah, the fever hasn't gone up, but it's not going down either." Lavi gets up from his spot on the ground in front of the couch and goes into the couch. He gets three soda cans from the fridge and walks back in the living room, handing Kanda and Lenalee one before sitting back down on his previous spot. Kanda has taken a seat in the loveseat next to the couch Allen was placed on and opens his drink. Lenalee sets hers down on the table after taking a small sip and Lavi drinks half of his in one gulp.

"Why is Allen here anyway? You said he crashed here last night, what happened?" Lavi scratches the back of his neck and sighs before answering Lenalee.

"Well, after I had dropped Yu at your house yesterday, I went over to Allen's 'cause I had nothing better to do." Lenalee nods her head and Kanda has his eyes closed, but Lavi knows he's listening. "Before I could even knock, he threw open the door with his backpack and a gym bag. He shut the door a second before, I'm guessing, a bottle was thrown at it because I heard glass shattering. He dragged me to my car and said he was staying with me for a few days." Lavi sighs once more before continuing. "He said that when Cross gets really stressed, he'll get drunk again, like before, and apparently Cross is an angry drunk. He'll get mad at everything and Allen's the only one there to take the heat." He gestures towards the passed out boy on his couch and runs a hand through his bedhead. "Hey, can you guys watch him while I go get dressed?"

"Sure Lavi. I'll have Kanda get you if anything happens." Lavi nods to Lenalee and goes down the hallway to his room. He changes into some real clothes and brushes down his hair. He goes into his connected bathroom to brush his teeth and heads back out to the living room where nothing really changed. "We didn't have any homework today, just a bunch of notes and stuff."

"Really? Well, that's good. At least I have don't have to worry about missing out in school." Lavi falls onto the couch in the far end of the room, wanting to sit down on a real chair for a while.

"Should we be worried? About Cross I mean?" Kanda's the one to break the silence, surprisingly, but it still sounded as if he was just throwing something out there to get rid of the melancholy atmosphere.

"Naw, he said it happens rarely happens and that Cross doesn't hurt him, just yells a lot and throws his weight around." Lavi throws in a dismissive wave to convince Lenalee further and it seems to work since she nods and accepts it. Allen lets out a small whimper and Lenalee looks at him closer. His face is contorted in pain and his pants are deep and short. Lenalee presses her hand onto his forehead only to jerk it back with wide eyes.

"Lavi, his fever is worse!" Lavi jumps out of his seat and presses his own hand onto Allen. He lets out a whimper and his eyes flutter open. Lavi gets on one knee in front of Allen and Lenalee stands up, not wanting to get in the way.

"Allen, Allen, little buddy. How are you feeling?" Allen slowly turns his head to face Lavi, then to Lenalee standing on the side with a very worried expression. He frowns then turns back to Lavi.

"Why is Lena… here?" His voice is barley above a whisper, not wanting to speak loud for everything he did hurt his head even worse.

"She came to see you, Kanda too." He nods to Kanda and Allen looks over the arm of the couch to see him. "Allen, I have to get you in the bathroom okay? Can you walk?" Lavi helps Allen sit up and when he tries to stand, he falls back onto the couch. "Guess not. I'm going to pick you up now Allen." He puts one hand under his knees and the other behind his back. He stands up straight, bringing Allen up with him into a bridal style hold. Allen lets out a whimper and closes his eyes, everything in the room slightly spinning.

"Too… fast…" His small whine was not heard by Lavi and he found himself being carried down the hall.

"Kanda, can you get the door?" Kanda jogs in front of Lavi and opens the bathroom door for him to go through. "Sorry Lenalee, you're gonna have to wait outside. We're all guys, so it'd be weird if we had a girl in here." Lenalee looks at Kanda before nodding her head.

"Okay, I'll wait out here, but if you need any extra help, don't hesitate to call." Lavi nods and she watches as Kanda goes into the bathroom after giving her cheek a kiss and closes the door. She leans against the wall and slides down it, sitting on the floor. "Please be okay Allen…"

"Hold him up for a second so I can get the water started." Kanda does as he's told and watches as Allen has some trouble keeping his own head up. He usually doesn't take orders easily, especially from Lavi, but seeing as Allen is like this, he's willing to keep his stubbornness at bay for a while. Lavi finishes with the water, making sure that it's cold, for Allen to soak in. "Allen, we have to get you undressed so you can go into the water, okay?" Allen doesn't respond for a second and Lavi goes to repeat himself, but Allen nods his head. "Keep holding him so I can get his clothes." Kanda nods and watches as Lavi starts unbuttoning Allen's black pajama shirt.

"Lavi… Hurt…" Allen mumbles trying to make the room stop spinning. He notices that he's in a shiny white room, not a bland coffee colour like the other room was. "Where...?"

"You're in the bathroom, like I said, you're going to soak in some water so you can cool down." Lavi takes Allen's right arm out of the sleeve, then his left. "Are these tattoos Allen?" He stares at the kunai-shaped marks at his shoulder and notices that they are a shade lighter than the rest of the arm.

"Cross… let me… get them…" Lavi takes off his shirt and tosses it to the corner of the room. He takes off his gloves and puts them in his pocket. He's really just trying to keep him talking, so that he won't pas out or anything.

"When'd you get them?" Kanda gets what Lavi's doing and asks the question, keeping Allen awake.

"Um… When I was… thirteen…?" Lavi starts on the pants, undoing the little bow there to keep them up and pulling them off. Lavi stops in his movements when he sees all the little scars on his body, mostly around the hips and chest. The worst one is a long, deep looking scar along the right side of his torso. Kanda looks at it too, a frown marring his features.

"Is this from when you were taken from the hospital?" He didn't want say his name, he doesn't even deserve to be thought of after what he did to Allen even if he can't remember half of it. Allen looks down at his chest and runs his finger along the length of the scar and nods his head. 'I'm kinda glad he doesn't remember how he got all these scars, if he did I wonder if he would be different.' Lavi throws Allen's right arm on his shoulder and helps him stand, choosing to leave on his boxers for his privacy. Once at the tub, Kanda slides his legs into the water as Lavi eases the rest of his body into the cold water.

"Cold!" Allen yelps, wrapping his arms around himself, shivering.

"I know Allen, sorry, but we have to do this to get the fever down." Lavi picks up a rag from the edge of the tub and dunks it in the water. He squeezes it over Allen's head a few times before just letting it sit on his shoulders, around his neck. "Do you want us to call Cross?"

"No… He wouldn't… answer… anyway…" Allen's body is shaking slightly from the cold and Lavi feels slightly bad for putting him in there, but it's for the better. After letting him soak in the tub for a little longer, Kanda helps Lavi get Allen out of the tub and dried. Allen wraps the towel given to him as tightly as he can around his body, trying to get warm again. Kanda helps Allen back into the living room, with Lenalee's help, and onto the couch in a sitting position. Lavi finishes cleaning up in the bathroom and joins a moment later. "Can I have… some medicine… for my head…?"

"Oh yeah, it's probably killing you right now! Especially after gramps hit you like that…" Lavi races back to the bathroom and looks through the medicine cabinet for some Ibuprofen. He finds the bottle and takes two out. He goes back to the living room and hands Allen the two pills. Lenalee gives him a glass of water she had gotten while Lavi was searching for the medicine. Allen swallows the two pills and sits the water on the table.

"How do you feel Allen?" Lenalee places her hand on his toweled shoulder. Allen pulls the towel closer to himself, not wanting Lenalee to see him with just boxers on.

"I'm cold and my head is killing me… Other than that, I feel better." His voice is just above a murmur, but is heard clearly through the silence of the room.

"Well, that's good. You gave us a scare when your fever spiked up like that." She laughs softly and Allen smiles, albeit a little weakly. "Kanda and I have to get going. Brother's not going to be happy that I wasn't home straight away." She's smiling and takes Kanda's hand in hers. "We'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Okay, that's fine. We'll see you two later." They go down the stairs and open the front door. As it's closing, Lavi adds, "Don't forget the condoms!" as an afterthought. Yelling could be heard from Kanda as Lenalee slams the door closed. He lets out a laugh and looks back at Allen who has a small smile on his face.

"You shouldn't tease them too much, Lavi." He dismisses Allen's notion with a wave of his hand and a 'psh' sound. He sits on the same couch as Allen and leans back. Allen stands and wobbles a bit before walking down the hall.

"Wait, where are you going?" Lavi helps balance Allen, keeping him from falling.

"I'd rather have clothes on in your house, not soaking wet boxers, thank you." Lavi smiles and helps him down the hall, into his room.

"Are you sure, 'cause I know I wouldn't mind." Lavi throws in a wink, even though it looked like a blink, but Allen got it. He rolls his eyes and starts digging through his gym bag for a pair of pants.

"Yeah, you're cool." He puts on faded black jeans and throws on a long-sleeved 'Abney Park' shirt. "Do you know where my gloves are?" Lavi pulls them out of his back pocket and tosses them to Allen.

"So cool ice cubes are jealous. But seriously, do you bend that way, or what?" Allen easily slides the gloves on and sits on his bed.

"Well, yes and no. I don't care if the person is a boy or a girl, as long as they love me. But, the big thing is, I don't want to have sex with someone, so it's kind of weird to describe…" He laughs a little and looks at Lavi to see his reaction.

"You… don't want sex? Dude, that's the first time I've heard a teenage _boy _say that! I mean, that's all we think about, especially at 16!" He stares at him in shock, just wondering what he's on. Allen shrugs and lies back in his bed and closes his eyes, trying to will the rest of his headache away.

"It's not unheard of Lavi, it's called being asexual." Lavi sits on the edge of the bed, looking at the wall with an appalled expression.

"So, like, do you not have a sex drive, is that why you don't want sex?"

"No, many asexual people don't have a sex drive, but the others do. I'm not sure why I don't I want it, all I know is that I just _don't._" He opens his eyes again and stares at the ceiling. "I still want a lover; I'm perfectly capable of loving someone, I just can't go very far with them because of this." He laughs a little and sits back up.

"That's so _weird._ Like, I'm okay with it and everything, I'm not going to judge you, but I've never heard of it, so it's just strange." Allen places his hand on Lavi's shoulder and laughs again.

"Don't hurt yourself Lavi." He leaves the room and into the kitchen, starting to cook a dinner since it's kind of late.

"What are you doing?" Lavi follows him and watches as he gets some pots out and looks in the fridge.

"I'm making dinner. I've got to thank you and Bookman somehow don't I?" Lavi accepts this and continues to watch him, to make sure that he is in fact doing well and still not feeling sick. A while after dinner was finished, Bookman came home and was very surprised that Allen was up and about. He didn't say anything about it and let Allen continue with his business. After dinner, Allen decides to take a shower after Lavi and goes to bed. He feels much better than this morning, but there's a lingering feeling in his head, like someone was trying to dig further into his mind. He couldn't really explain it accurately, but it's a strange feeling nonetheless. He continues to ignore it and falls into a dreamless sleep.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**The ending for this chapter, the whole part when Allen gets sick, is really just filler. Anyway, sorry I wasn't able to update sooner like I've been doing, I was chilling with my love at the mall today~ She's really into the vintage, gaudy stuff and I'm loving it. Today was really fun and I do not regret not working on this chapter to miss hanging with her! And yes, I made Allen asexual. No, not just because I am, but because I see him like that in the actual series. This is just my opinion and if you disagree with it, *puts on sunglasses* deal with it. *shot* God, I've been on Tumblr **_**waaayy**_** too much…**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm thinking of adding a lemon to this story. If I do write a lemon, it will be a yaoi, just so you know. If you agree, or disagree, then leave a review so that I know please~**

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

"You're _sure _that you feel better? No fever, headache, anything?" Lenalee turns in her seat to look back at Allen.

"You're making it sound as if you _want _me to be sick." He laughs lightly, "But yes, I'm better Lenalee. Lavi made me stay home on Friday to make sure nothing would happen and I'm fine now." He smiles and Lenalee turns back in her seat, still unsure about Allen's health. After Thursday's incident, Lavi made Allen stay home Friday, much to his displeasure. It's Sunday now and Allen decided that he's going back to his house with Cross. He says that he'll be fine by now, but his friends kept insisting that they're going with him, whether he likes it or not. Kanda pulls into the driveway of Allen's house and gets out of the car followed by everyone else. Allen walks up to the door with his two bags on his shoulders and unlocks the door with his key.

"Cross! I'm home!" Everyone walks into the house and Allen goes straight to his room, the rest staying in the living room. "Timcanpy, there you are!" Tim looks up from his spot on Allen's bed and flies to him. "Sorry for leaving you here, I wasn't really thinking at the moment." Tim rubs on his cheek, accepting his apology. Allen places his bags on the bed and leaves the room, deciding to unpack later. "Cross! Where are you?" He walks through the living room and into the kitchen.

"Maybe he left somewhere?" Lavi says as he watches his smaller friend wlk around the house a little worried.

"He would've left a note. He always lets me know where he's going." Lavi follows Allen as he walks back down the hall, to Cross' room. He knocks a few times on the door, "Cross? Are you in there?" He receives no answer and he knocks a little harder. Still no answer. He tries opening it, but it's locked.

"Stand back." Lavi pushes him to the side and holds the door knob. He bangs his shoulder against it a few times before it gives and flies open. Allen runs in the room and looks around. He freezes in his spot when he sees the window. The whole thing is shattered, glass littering the floor and windowsill. Blood is splattered on the window, floor, and on a gun. The gun is obviously customised, having a large barrel and on the sides are golden crosses. Allen stares ahead at the blood in Cross' room, not paying attention to anything else. Not Lavi trying to get him out of the room, not Lenalee's cries, not even Kanda's shouting for him to move and not stand there like a zombie.

"Allen, maybe it's not his blood. Maybe it's someone elses…" Lenalee steps forward, towards the frozen Allen. She places her hand on his arm, but doesn't get a reaction. Allen starts walking to the window and Tim flies there before him. He sits on the dried blood and looks at the gun on the ground, feeling depressed that his master is gone. Allen stops in front of the window and reaches his hand out, touching the edge of the broken glass still connected to the window. "Allen…" He turns around and picks up the gun. He looks mesmorized by it for a second and handles it like it as if it were glass. His face betrays no emotion, not even his eyes. Everything about him is blank and the three friends know that this isn't Allen they're with. He puts the gun by his hip under the waist of his pants and looks towards the others in the room.

"Good morning." He smiles and Lenalee takes a few steps back, bumping into Kanda.

"Who… are you?" Lavi asks while eyeing him warily. Tim flies up and lands on 'Allen's' shoulder. 'Allen' pets him before looking back at Lavi.

"I guess I do need a name. Very well then, you may call me Kira." Kira gives a bow and a smile, "Now, if you don't mind I have some business to attend to." He starts walking out of the room only to be stopped by Kanda. "Excuse me, Kanda."

"No, since you are still technically Allen, as your friends, we demand to know what you're planning to do about this fucking mess." He gestures towards the bloody mess at the window without looking away from Kira.

"I'm going to clean it, of course. And after that I plan to contact someone who can help Allen and me." He roughly moves Kanda's arm out of the way and goes into the bathroom. Kira comes back with a bucket of water, a rag, and a dust pan with a hand broom. He starts picking up the glass and placing it onto the dust pan. Lavi walks over and starts helping Kira clean the mess.

"Shouldn't we call the police, not help him get rid of the evidence?" Lenalee says after watching Lavi lean down to help Kira pick up the shards of glass on the floor.

"Sorry, love, but we can't trust the police. The Earl has people involved in everything and he would take me the moment I walked into a station." Kira hands Lavi the dust pan and brush to get the smaller bits of glass from the window sill and floor.

"Who's the person who can help you and Allen? You said something about contacting someone who can help." Lavi brushes up the rest of the glass and throws it away in a small trash can in the corner of the room.

"Ah, he's basically the only person I'm willing to trust now, besides you three." He dunks the rag into the bucket and starts scrubbing the hardwood floors, getting the dried blood off. "He's Allen's uncle, Neah. You might've heard of him, anyway, I have to get him out of hiding and reconnected with Allen. He used to be part of the Earl's 'big plan,' but when he finally realised what he was actually trying to do, he fought back. He almost won too, but that's beside the point. After he had found out about the Earl taking Allen, he tried hunting him down, but was always a step behind."

"What exactly does that have to do with him helping the Moyashi?" Kanda snaps, not really fond of Kira.

"Impatient child." Kira mutters under his breath while working on the last few spots of blood. "I'm getting to that, just hold on. After Neah had found out that Cross had gotten Allen back, he went into hiding and started his own plan to take down the Earl. I need him now because he's the only one Allen will open up to now since Cross is gone." He drops the two towels in the bucket and stands up. He takes the bucket back into the bathroom, dumping the awater into the tub and tossing the towels into a hamper by the door.

"How do you know all this? Shouldn't you just know everything Allen knows?" Lavi asks while following him into Allen's room, along with Kanda and Lenalee.

"That's true, but I know all this because I read it from Neah's journal. It was with the Earl and he let me have it during my stay. He couldn't read out of it, so he donned it useless." Kira starts pulling stuff from under the bed, "Everything I know about him up to the point when he fights back is from his journal, everything else is from what the Earl and Cross has told me." He pulls out a shoebox and sits it on the bed to put everything else back. "As soon as I find Neah and bring him back is when I'll let Allen out again."

"Wait, you're gonna keep him locked up in his own head?" Lavi stares at Kira with wide eyes as he sits on the bed and takes out some papers from the shoebox.

"It's safer that way. I can keep him safe better than anyone else right now and it shouldn't take that long to find his uncle, so I won't be long." He shifts through some of the papers and picks out a few. He walks out of the room and into the living room. "You three are just going to have to deal with it until I find Neah. Just act like I'm Allen in public and towards others and no one will be the wiser." He finds a piece of paper and a pen and starts writing.

"But what about school? And what are you going to do if someone becomes suspicious about not seeing Cross and only ever seeing you?" Lenalee sits on the couch facing Kira and Kanda sits next to her. Lavi stands nearby watching as Lenalee gets mad with Kira and you should know a mad Lenalee is never a good one.

"I will continue doing the usual everyday occurances Allen had and I'll just say that Cross had an important mission to go on since he's one of the generals, after all." He finishes the letter and gives it to Timcanpy, "You know where to go Timcanpy, try not to get eaten by any cats." Tim flies off and out of the house through an open window, disapperaing out of sight. "I do not want you to be mad at me Lenalee." Kira starts talking in a soft voice, "I'm only keeping him in so that he can deal with the pain better. The only family who ever loved him, and is actually present, is dead and I don't want him to go around saying he's fine when on the inside I know he himself is crying. So please don't be mad with me, I need your help as well as Neah's to get Allen back." His head is face down, his bangs covering his eyes. Lenalee stands up and walks up to Kira before hugging him.

"I'm not mad, I'm just sad that Allen hides his pain like that in front of us, his friends." Everything's silent for a moment then Lenalee pulls back with a smile on her face. "You're still coming to the party right?" Kira seems shocked for a moment before smiling himself.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." The rest of the day was spent getting the party together at the warehouse Komui rented out. Like Kira said, they called him Allen and nobody noticed that it really wasn't him. "Where do you want this Komui?" Kira lifts up a banner with bats and pumpkins on it.

"I want that going across on the ceiling over there, but the ladder isn't here here yet." Komui shrugs and goes back to setting the tables up. Kira looks up at the beams across the ceiling and looks around the space for something. In the corner f the room is a bunch of rope and he jogs over there. He picks up one long one and goes to the area where Komui said he wanted the banner. He looks around again and sees Kanda carrying in some chairs from outside.

"Kanda!" Kanda looks over at Kira and puts the chairs down. "Could you help me for a moment?" He nods and jogs over to Kira. Kira throws one end of the rope over the beam and hands it to Kanda. He takes the banner and puts his arm through it, letting it rest on his shoulder. "Hold on tight, don't let me fall please." Before Kanda said anything, he starts climbing the rope and Kanda's hold tightens from the added weight. Kira starts inching up the rope and about halfway up, he hears calls from below him.

"Oi, Allen! What the Hell are you doin'?" Lavi calls up, but he ignores him. He reaches the beam and straddles it, coiling up the rope and setting it on his other shoulder. He stands up straight and walks to the wall, balancing on the thin boards.

"Don't you dare fall Moyashi!" Kanda calls up himself as Komui comes over to the two boys and watches Allen straddle the beam again to tie one end of the banner on.

"Don't worry Kanda, I won't fall!" He shouts down and stands again. About halfway to the opposite wall, he has to go around an intersection of the beams. He places his foot on the next section around the center wood and hugs it. Kira shuffles his next foot next to the other one and slowly turns. As he lets go of the center beam, his foot slips off the wood and he loses his balance. Kira reaches out for a different beam near him and he swings around it before landing on his feet in a crouched position. "That was close…"

"Oh my God Allen, don't die!" Lenalee yells out, joining the small group that formed under Kira.

"Sorry about that! I'm almost done!" Kira gets to the other side flawlessly and ties on the banner after getting it untangled from almost falling. He takes the rope off his shoulder and lets the sides slide down the beam. Kanda takes a hold of one side of the rope as Kira starts sliding down.

"Allen, how'd you do that?" Komui asks once Kira's situated on the ground.

"I used to be a white-face clown with my father when I was little. I was especially good at the acrobatics and I always loved being high up." After Lenalee reprimanded Allen for doing something so dangerous, despite having experience, everybody continued decorating the warehouse. People started arriving a little after they finished decorating and the first people are Tiedoll, a tall dark-skinned man dressed as a DJ, and a shorter man dressed as a jester. "Hey, Lavi, who are those people with Tiedoll?" Kira whispers to him as he watches the people walk up to a glaring Kanda.

"Those are Yu's brothers, Tiedoll adopted them too. The tall one is Marie, he's blind, and the short one is Daisya. Be careful with him, he'll fuck anything with two legs and breathes, especially if it looks small, innocent, and defenseless." Lavi bumps his elbow to Kira's arm and walks to the back room where the bathrooms are so he could change. Kira blushes and follows Lavi into the bathroom. After he finishes changing he walks out of the stall and looks in the mirror to spike his hair up with hair gel. Lavi steps out of his stall and in front of a mirror, next to Kira, to put his hair up in a headband that came with the costume.

"Ah, hold on." Allen digs through his pocket and pulls out a green and black headband that went with the colour pattern of Lavi's costume. "Here, Allen made it for you a while back and was planning to give it to you for Halloween." Lavi takes off his black headband and places the green one in its place.

"It looks great Kira! Make sure you tell him I said thanks." He adjusts the band a little more before leaving the bathroom. Kira finishes with his hair and puts the blades into place on his left hand. He leaves his bag in the vent of the bathroom, not trusting to leave it in the open, and leaves the bathroom. In the time he was gone, all of the guests have arrived and half the warehouse is filled with people in weird costumes. Kira recognises Krory and he's in a black suit with a cloak. His white stripe is spiked up to get a more wild look, like he did with his own, and he appears to be wearing contacts to make his whole eye black except for the irises which are a golden shade. He's with a beautiful blonde-haired woman who's dressed as a succubus.

"Hey cutie, what's your name?" A hand is placed on his waist and he's pulled close to the chest of, none other than, Daisya. Kira blushes a slight red, not used to this kind of behavior towards him, or Allen.

"I-It's Allen." He pushes on his chest only for his grip to get stronger. "I don't appreciate being manhandled, thank you." His voice takes on a more serious tone, but it doesn't sound as threatning as it should because of the blush on his cheeks.

"Come on, Allen~ I just want to have a little fun." Allen tries a change in tactics and lets himself be held by Daisya. He brings his right hand up to his chest and traces a line along his collarbone.

"Hmm, as much as I appreciate the attention, I don't like being touched like a common _whore._" He sneers out, tracing a line along his neck, "Now, you could get your hands off of me and we could forget this ever happened, or I could pull out the gun strapped to my thigh and shoot you where it hurts. Your choice~" Daisya's eyes widen and he immediately lets go and puts his hands in front of him in a surrendering motion. "Right answer." Kira walks away from the shocked jester and to the snack table. He picks up a brownie bite with a ghost toothpick sticking out and takes a bite out of it. He smiles ands put the toothpick on the table before popping the rest of the brownie in his mouth with a childish smile on his face.

"You like sweets?" A small, high-pitched voice asked him and he looks to his right. A small girl with a witch costume on takes one of the brownies and eats it. Her hair is black and spikes into the air in every way and instead of a broom, she's carrying an out-of-place bright pink umbrella.

"Yes, I guess I do." She smiles and starts eating a piece of candy from a bowl. Kira can't help but to smile back at this sweet looking girl. She reaches towards the back of the table for a cupcake, but can't quite reach. He picks it up and hands it to the beaming child. "What's your name love?"

"My name's Road Kamelot. I'm friends with Lenalee, the one throwing the party, what about you?" She pulls the paper off the cupcake and takes a big bite out of it.

"My name is Allen Walker and I'm also friends with Lenalee. It's nice to meet you Road." He takes her hand and kisses the top of it. She squeals before latching herself onto Kira's neck.

"You're so cute! I can't believe I haven't heard of you until now!" Kira laughs a little at the enthusiasm of the girl's voice. He usually isn't so nice to people he just met, but something about this girl is just so sweet he can't help but like her.

"Road, leave the poor boy alone." A tall, dark man says to her with a smile on his face. He's wearing a Phantom of the Opera costume, complete with the half-mask adorning his face.

"Awww, but Tyki~" Road whines, but releases Kira's neck with her lips pulled into a pout. "He's so cute and polite! He reminds me of _him_!"

"Shush girl, go play with your friend." He gestures to the area where Lenalee is talking to her brother and Road goes off to her, leaving Kira and Tyki alone. "Sorry about her if she caused any trouble."

"No, it's okay, she didn't do anything. She's sweet, really." Tyki's smile grows and it starts to look as if he's trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, she's a perfect little angel." He says sarcastically and Kira raises an eyebrow at his tone of voice. "Nothing, I'm Tyki, by the way. Tyki Mikk, I'm Road's uncle." He reaches his hand out and Kira takes it to shake.

"My name's Allen Walker, nice to meet you. Not to be rude or anything, but I thought you were her brother." Tyki starts laughing and Kira notices that he has a beauty mark under his right eye. 'He is a beauty…' Kira has no problem admitting when he sees something that catches his attention and this man definitely falls into that category.

"Oh God, you're great shonen. Sorry about this, but I have to go now. I'll see you later, okay?" He pulls his hand back and puts them both into his pockets.

"Sure, I'll see you around." '_Shounen_?' He nods and walks off towards Road, probably to pry her off of Lavi. Kira laughs a bit before walking away from the table to Krory to start a conversation since he didn't have anything better to do.

"Hey Allen!" Lavi comes up to Kira and Krory dismisses himself. "You wanna do something for me?"

"Um… I guess so…" Lavi smiles and goes towards the center where a beam is sticking out from all the way to the ceiling. There are some blocks of wood attached to it a few feet up so you could climb up it if need be. 'I could've just used these earlier…'

"Okay, Yu was being a bitch and threw my sword up there. It isn't the one that came with the costume, it's one from my room and it's an artifact and if I don't get it down, gramps is literally going to _kill me._ Do you think you could climb up there and get it for me?" He puts his hands in front of him and gives Kira the puppy eyes.

"Why would you use a real sword, much less an artifact, for your costume?" Kira looks up and sees a sliver of silver in the shadows.

"'Cause the plastic one is so lame! And I thought it would be cool to show up with a real sword, you know?"

"No, not really. You're going to have to watch these for me." Kira takes off the blades from his left hand and leans them against the beam. "Give me a boost." Lavi intertwines his hands and kneels in front of the side with the steps. Kira steps onto his hands and Lavi pushes him up so he could grab onto the first step and pull himself up. He makes it to the top and sits on a thick beam, so he wouldn't lose his balance easily. He looks around and finds the sword, actually a dagger. He makes sure the sheath is on securely after looking at the blade. "Lavi! Heads up!" Lavi looks up at Kira and he drops the dagger right above him. Lavi catches it successfully and looks back up at Kira.

"You need help down?" Kira shakes his head and Lavi shrugs. "Okay, have fun!" He calls out before walking off into the crowd with dagger in hand. He inches towards the steps and places his foot on the first one. Kira follows this pattern all the way back down until he reaches the last step. He looks down and judges the distance and deems it safe enough. He jumps the rest of the way down, bending his knees once hitting the ground to not hurt himself and puts his claws back on his costume. The rest of the Halloween party went without any hitches, games being played, music blaring, and food happily being eaten. Well past midnight, people started leaving and heading to either another party, or home to savage _some _sleep.

"I'm so glad that we don't have school tomorrow, it'd be horrible if we tried to get by with two hours of sleep." Lenalee laughs while walking to the parking lot with Kanda's hand in hers.

"Wouldn't it be considered today? Besides, I still got some energy to burn! You guys want to do anything else?" Lavi looks to be jumping in his spot with energy, where the Hell does this kid get it?

"Ah, sorry Lavi, but Kanda and I are going to get some sleep. Nii-san's going to be here until later today, so I'm going to Kanda's house." Kanda wraps his hand around her waist as they keep walking and Kira placed his hand over Lavi's mouth when he saw that he was going to make a comment.

"Lavi, you're going to be crashing from your high soon, anyway. Just go home and sleep so you don't end up passing out from exhaustion in a random alley." Kira says while looking around the parking lot, searching for something. Lavi sees this and stops beside him as Kanda and Lenalee keep walking to Kanda's car.

"Whatcha' lookin' for Kira?" He uses his real name since no one else is around to hear and watches Kira do a full spin, still looking around.

"Timcanpy, I haven't seen him all night. He came back after I sent him off today and I know that I brought him with me." He bites on his bottom lip and turns to Lavi, "You wouldn't mind waiting, would you?"

"No, not at all. Here, let's go back and look for him." He unlocks the car doors and throws his bag into the front seat and Kira does the same before walking back to the warehouse. They walk back into it and start walking around, looking for any sign of a golden ball anywhere.

"Timcanpy, where did you go?" After about ten minutes, Kira is started to get very annoyed that he just disappered with no thought on telling him where he was going! Well, he can't speak, but he could've at least checked in every once in a while! Letting out a sigh, he looks around for what seems like the hundredth time and sees a familiar figure near the open entrance. He walks towards him and notices that he has a cigarette in his mouth and is staring at something shiny in his hands. The closer he gets, Kira sees that the shiny object is round and is a gold colour. "Timcanpy!" He runs towards Tyki and Tim flies out of his hand to Kira. "There you are! Don't ever do that to me again!" He scolds the golem who deflates in his palm and rubs on his fingers as an apology.

"Ah, shonen, it's yours?" Kira places Tim on his shoulder and pets him as he looks at Tyki. He took of the mask and cloak and untied the bowtie, letting it rest on his shoulders.

"Yes, I've been looking for him since he just flew off earlier." He laughs softly and Tyki puts out his cigarette with his foot.

"He just came to me a few hours back and stayed. I recognised him as Cross' golem, may I ask how you came across it?" Kira freezes in his spot and looks at Tyki with wide eyes.

"You… you knew Cross…?" Tyki nods his head and looks at Kira strangely.

"Yeah, I helped him finish building Tim there actually. What's with the past tense, what, did he die, or something?" He laughs at the end of his sentence and Kira looks down and stays silent. Tyki notices this and his own eyes become wide with realisation. "Oh God, I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

"It's okay, you had no way of knowing, it's not your fault. He adopted me after my previous father had passed away and he gave Timcanpy to me as a gift before… you know…" He smiles a little and pets Tim, his eyes still downcast.

"Well, I still feel bad for it… I didn't know that he adopted someone. I haven't seen him since we finished making Tim, so I kind of lost communication with him. How about we get together some time? Here," Tyki digs through his pocket for a second before pulling out a playing card, ace of spades. "Better than nothing…" He pulls out a pen next and starts writing on the card before handing it to Kira, "Here's my number, just call anytime you like and I'll answer. It can be for anything, if you want to talk, or just hang out. I'll see you later, okay Allen?" Kira looks at the card with a sincere smile growing on his face.

"Okay, thank you Tyki." He nods and walks off to the parking lot and into a car where Road is already seated in, apparently waiting for him. She sees him and waves while they drive off and Kira waves back. After a moment of watching the car drive away, he turns around and puts the card in his pocket. "Lavi! I found Timcanpy!" He sees Lavi pop out of the bathroom and look towards him. "Come on, we can leave now!" He walks out of the warehouse and back to Lavi's car. After he had caught up with Kira, they both get into the car and drive off.

"Where'd you find him?" Lavi asks after swatting his tail away from his face.

"He found an old friend of his and stayed with him during the party. His name is Tyki and he's really nice. Apparently, he helped Cross make Timcanpy. He gave me his number, said to call if I ever wanted to talk." Kira grabs Tim from the air and starts playing with his cheeks on his lap.

"That's cool, I know of him. He's Road's uncle, right?" Lavi laughs a little, "I only know that 'cause Road has a _huge_ crush on me. Like, when she calls you cute and hangs on your neck, it's like that with me, except ten times worse." Kira covers his mouth with his hand to stilfe his laughter, but fails miserably.

"Oh God, Lavi, how does it feel to have a thirteen year old in love with you?" Lavi's smile grows and he turns into the parking lot of a McDonalds.

"Believe it or not, but she's actually seventeen." Kira's laughter stops immediately and Lavi has a smug look on his face. "Exactly, come on. I want to get some food in me that isn't sugary sweet." He slides out of the car and once Kira gets over the shock, follows Lavi into the 24/7 McDonalds with a few people in it. They're both in their costumes still, but don't care since it's still considered Halloween. They order a couple of burgers, some fries, two drinks, and find a table to sit at.

"How is she seventeen?" Kira takes a fry and feeds it to Tim, "I mean, not to be rude, but she's shorter than me and that's saying a lot."

"Wow, Allen would never take a shot at his own height like that. Anyway, she's just like that. I was actually thinking of asking her out." Lavi takes a bite out of his burger and feeds one of his own fries to Timcanpy.

"Really? What's stopping you, she seems like an angel." Kira takes a sip from his drink and is very thankful that he took of his claws at the party after they had gotten on the way for the third time. Lavi lets out a snort of amusement.

"You're only saying that because you've only seen her good side. When she gets mad, you better _pray _that you're not in her way." Kira stares at Lavi for a second as he continues eating and decides to ask something that's been bugging him for a while.

"Hey Lavi, may I ask something without you getting mad at me?" He looks at Kira while drinking for a moment. After he puts his drink down, he shuffles Kira's hairly softly.

"Sure Kira, what is it?" He smiles reassuringly at Kira and he hesitates to continue.

"Well, I just wanted to know what happened to your eye. It's only fair since you know what happened to Allen, for the most part." Lavi's smile turns into a slight frown, but he nods anyway.

"When I was little and before gramps started taking care of me, I lived with my mom. My dad died when I was a baby and she blamed me for his death. She used to abuse me and gramps didn't even know about it until later. It started with verbal abuse, and then escalated to her hitting me. One day, she lost her job and came home drunk." He takes in a shuddering breath before continuing, his voice locking up on itself. Kira places his hand on top of his and Lavi takes it into his, holding it tightly. "She found me in my room and dragged me to the laundry room. I couldn't even understand what she was yelling at me since she was so drunk, but I was scared shitless. She took out the bleach and tried to force me to drink it. I pushed it away and it ended up in my eye. She would've made me drink it if it hadn't been for gramps coming to the house at the last minute and calling the police on her." He's silent and his hands are shaking, but Kira doesn't let go of his hand.

"What happened to her?" His question is so quiet, it's a wonder that lavi even heard him.

"She was admitted to a mental hospital. I got a postcard from her a month after, but that's it. I don't visit her because I'd break down if I saw her again." His eyes are downcast on the table and Kira brings his other hand up to wipe at a lone tear streaking Lavi's face.

"Thank you for telling me that Lavi. I'm happy that you trust me enough to tell me that." Kira smiles sincerely and Lavi smiles back, rubbing at his eye.

"Yeah, well, that's what friends are for, right?" He laughs a little and starts collecting his trash to throw away. Kira feeds the rest of his burger to Tim and cleans up his mess as well. Lavi drops Kira off at his house and decides to sleep over. "It'd be lonely in a big house by your self. I'm doing you a favor." Kira accepts this reason gratefully, not really wanting to be alone in such a big house, and lets him sleep in his room. He goes to Cross' room, the window boarded up, but he ignores that. He undresses and places his gun, Cross' gun, on the bedside table before falloing asleep with Timcanpy by his side.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**Now you know how Lavi got his eyepatch~ Depressing, I know, but some people are just like that in this world. Personally, I love Road and Tyki. They are my favorite Noahs out of all of them, not including Neah (no one could compete with Neah~). Oh yeah, as much as I hate to say this, my updating is not going to be as frequent as it has been starting Monday. I have school and I'm just trying to get through the rest of the year. Only 9 more weeks then summer vacation, which means more free time, which means more time to write and update~ Also! If you are a fan of Hetalia and love RusCan, you **_**have**_** to check out this fanfiction. It's called ****Giving In**** and it is one of the best fan fics you will **_**ever**_** read. Seriously. It might take a while to catch up to the current chapter, but it is sooo worth it. Anyway, I'm rambling, review please~**


	6. Chapter 6

"Yes, his name is Neah Walker. No, I don't know what he looks like." Kira runs a gloved hand through his hair and suppresses a sigh. He leans his forehead against the wall and closes his eyes. "Yes, I'll be available at this number. Thank you, good bye." He places the phone back on the receiver and lets out a deep sigh.

"No luck?" Kira shakes his head without opening his eyes, still leaning against the wall. Lavi stands up from his spot on the couch and towards Kira. He places his hand on his shoulder, causing him to open his eyes. "Why don't you give Tyki a call? You said he knew Cross before you, so maybe if you started hanging with him, it'll do Allen some good." Kira nods his head and takes the playing card out of his pocket. Lavi goes to the kitchen to give him some privacy as he dials the number and waits for someone to answer.

"_Hello?"_ Someone answers the phone after a few rings.

"Um, this is Allen Walker. Is Tyki there?"

"_Ah! Allen, nice to hear from you so soon! What can I do for you?"_

"Actually, I was wondering if we could meet somewhere today, if possible."

"_As nice as that sounds, I can't. I have to watch my niece, Road, today. Her father is away on some business and he left her in my care."_ A sly smile came upon Kira's face and he looks at Lavi.

"Well, how about a double-date of sorts? I have someone over here who Road would absolutely _love _to see." Kira smiles innocently at Lavi and he smiles back, not being able to hear what he's saying.

"_Really now?"_ Tyki's voice takes on an amused tone, _"It wouldn't happen to be a red-haired rabbit, would it?"_

"The very one." He fiddles with the playing card, his eyes tracing the black and white diamond pattern on the back.

"_Well then, this changes _everything_. How does the café sound? The new one in the town center?"_

"That sounds perfect. I'll see you in thirty minutes." They both said their goodbyes and hang up. "Lavi~" He looks back at Kira and sweatdrops at the sickingly sweet tone he addressed him in.

"Y-Yeah Kira?" He keeps smiling and walks over to Lavi.

"Could you come with me to the new café in the town center? Tyki's meeting me there and I don't want to be alone." He puts his lip out in a pout and Lavi sighs.

"Yeah, I'll come with you." Kira thanks him and they load up in Lavi's car. Twenty five minutes later, they enter a small café and sit in a booth. A short, blond-haired waiter comes over to take their orders. He has a beret with a tassel sticking out of it with a stone at the top.

"Hello, I'm Bak Chang, your waiter. Are you guys ready to order?" He shakes his head a bit to get his messy blonde hair out of his eyes and takes out a pen and notepad.

"Yes, I'll have a caramel frappuccino. And Lavi…" Kira trails off, letting him answer for himself.

"I'll have the same Bak." He nods his head and finishes writing the orders before walking off to the next table for their orders. "So, Allen, why exactly am I here with you meeting Tyki?"

"We're on a double-date. Tyki couldn't leave Road alone, so I suggested that he brings her with him so she could be with you!" He ends cheerfully with a smile on his face. Lavi sweatdrops and looks at Kira.

"Really? You know you could've just said so, it's not like I have anything better to do today."

"I know. I just wanted to surprise you." He smiles and at that moment, Tyki and Road walk into the small shop and Lavi waves them over.

"Hi Allen! Hi Lavi!" Road comes jumping up onto the seat and hugs Allen before moving next to Lavi and hugging him. Tyki just nods his hello and takes his seat next Allen.

"Hi guys, glad you could make it." Bak comes over and hands Lavi and Kira their drinks before asking the other two if they wanted to order. Tyki just asks for a black coffee, not really liking sweets.

"Do you have anything sweet?" Road asks sitting on her knees and looking up at Bak.

"Well, our baker _has_ been wanting to try out his new recipe for devil's food cake, would you like to try that?" Road nods her head excitedly with sparkles in her eyes. Bak finishes writing her order down and heads into a back room, probably where the baker is.

"So, Lavi, have you read anything good lately?" Kira sends a knowing glance to Lavi, but he ignores and answers Road. They get absorbed into their own conversation, leaving Tyki and Kira sitting there watching them amused.

"Was there any special reason as to why you called me?" Tyki whispers in Kira's ear, making him gasp in surprise that goes unnoticed by the two across them.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you in private for a while, but it can wait." He nods towards Lavi and Road and Tyki nods his head, understanding. Bak comes back with Tyki's black coffee and Road's cake, much to her delight. She takes a small, delicate bite, as if testing it. She beams up at Bak and takes a larger bite, complimenting on how delicious it is. After she had finished her cake, she asks Lavi if he wanted to go to the book store nearby.

"Only if it's okay with your uncle, Road." Road looks at Tyki and pulls the most adorable face she could muster and Tyki was actually able to keep a straight face after seeing her look like that! It was an amazing sight for Lavi and Kira, who could not resist cute things. He waves his hand at her with a smile on his face and she squeals, taking Lavi's hand in hers and dragging him out of the café. Tyki moves and sits across from Kira, so he could take to him properly.

"What did you want to talk about?" He takes a sip of his coffee and golden eyes meet with silver.

"You said you knew Cross before he gained guardianship over me. Did you know someone named Neah as well?" Tyki nearly chokes on his coffee, but just coughs a few times before regaining his posture. He clears his throat and looks back at Kira.

"Yes, I did. How do you know him?" Kira plays with the straw in his drink while answering Tyki.

"He's my uncle. I only know I have one because someone told me about him when I was younger. I'm looking for him since he's the only family I have now." Tyki's mouth is wide open, but Kira doesn't see this as his attention is fully on his half-empty drink I front of him.

"_You're_ the kid he was talking about? I can't believe this." He leans back into his seat and lets out a laugh, "I didn't believe him when he said he became an uncle, I guess I gotta take it back now."

"Wait, so you know where he is?" Kira looks at Tyki with wide eyes, filled with hope at the chance of him knowing where he is.

"Yeah, I do. Just talked to him last week, actually." His smile grows when he sees the expression on Kira's face. 'Such a cute boy, so innocent too. A nice change from all the filth I've seen.'

"Wait, how do you know him? I'm his own nephew and I didn't even know about him until the Earl told me." Tyki's smile disappears and he looks at Kira with a serious expression.

"Are you with the Earl?" His voice has taken an edge to it, and Kira eyes Tyki dangerously.

"No, are you?" His own voice has become hard and his hand is hovering over his hip, where he hides his gun. Tyki's eyes soften and his smile comes back, not as strong as before though.

"No, I used to be, but after Neah showed me what he was really doing, I broke off from that psychopath. Same for Road and her father, they listened to Neah and got away when they had the chance. If you aren't with the Earl, then I take it you're one of the lucky ones who got away." Kira pulls his hand away from his hip and places it back on the table.

"You're correct. I didn't escape, I was saved by Cross." Tyki nods and drinks the last of his coffee.

"I'm surprised." Kira tilts his head in confusion and Tyki clarifies, "You aren't as messed up as the others turn out. You don't seem like you went through anything he puts people through, other than your mark." Kira's left hand goes up to his eye subconsciously, tracing his mark, not needing to be ungloved to feel the scar left there.

"Actually, you don't know the half of it." He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I'm not what you see me to be. I am not Allen; I'm his split personality, Kira. I'm the side that has all the bad memories of everything that happens to Allen. I'm the side that can take the pain of everything that's happening, so he doesn't turn into a depressed, suicidal teenager!" Kira doesn't even notice his voice rose to an almost yelling level, until Tyki placed his finger on his lips to shush him. He brushes his hand against Kira's cheeks and wipes away the tears that were falling unbeknownst to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry." Tyki's words are soft, comforting the boy across from him.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't even realize I _was _crying." He rubs at his eyes as Tyki looks at him concerned.

"If you're the other side of Allen, why are you out? I thought the other side only comes out when the host sees something that triggers the old memories." Kira looks at Tyki with glassy eyes, still wet from crying.

"Allen walked into Cross' room yesterday morning and he saw blood. The blood triggered me to come out and I decided that I'm not going to let him back out until I find Neah." Tyki opens his mouth to say something, but Kira holds his hand up to stop him from interrupting. " I know that doesn't sound like the right thing to do, but I believe that if I let him back out now, he'll be a mess. When I find Neah, I plan to explain to tell him everything, maybe even the things I hide from Allen, and only then will I let Allen out. I know that his uncle loves him very much and will help Allen get through this."

"That… actually sounds like a good plan." Tyki sounds genuinely surprised and blinks at Kira. "Do you mind if I come along when you see Neah, I want to meet the real Allen, not that meeting you wasn't a great pleasure." He smiles and takes out his phone. Allen smiles back and shakes his head.

"No, not at all." Tyki dials a few buttons and brings the phone up to his ear.

"Yes, I would like to speak with Mana Walker. Yes, I'll hold." Kira gives him a weird look when he said 'Mana.' He covers the mouth piece with his hand and looks back at Kira, "He doesn't use his real name, safety precaution." Kira nods his head in understanding and Tyki goes back to talking on the phone. "Hello, Neah? It's Tyki. Yes, yes, I know you're busy, but I have a surprise for you and we needto meet up." He pauses, letting Neah talk, "I know you don't like surprises, but I guarantee you, you're going to _love_ this one." He sends Kira a wink and he flushes a bit from it. "Okay, that sounds great. We'll see you then." He hangs up before Neah has a chance to ask who 'we' exactly is.

"Is it set?" Tyki nods with a smile on his face.

"Yup, everything's ready. We're meeting with him later this week." Kira nods, drinking the last of his frozen coffee. "So, _Kira, _would you mind to explain to me why you are still staying in the house Cross was killed in?"

"But I didn't say-"

"You said you were brought out because Allen saw blood in his room," Tyki interrupts him, "And that he was dead, so I just put the pieces together." He shrugs and looks at Kira, waiting for him to answer.

"Well… One reason is that I don't have anywhere else to go kind of, and the other reason is that I don't want to move out. I guess it's because I'm tired of moving from place to place and I thought that I would be fine there. Allen never had one place that he could call home, he's always moving around and I just wanted to stay in one place for a while to get some rest from that." Tyki looks at Kira concerned.

"Kira, if you stay there then you could get hurt. Some one killed _Cross_, the man I thought was immortal, in his own home. They could come back and hurt _you._" Tyki grabs Kira's hand and forces him to look straight in his eyes. "Move in with me. It's not far from here and I live alone, so you wouldn't be imposing on anybody. If you move in with me, then you'll be safe and away from anyone who wants to hurt you." Kira's eyes are as wide as saucepans at his proposition.

"What? Are you sure?" Tyki nods his head and releases his hands.

"Unless you think I'm being too forward…" Kira shakes his head.

"No, of course not, I'm just surprised." He stays silent for a moment, deep in thought. 'He really did just ask me to move in with him, I'm not going crazy. Oh God, what if he's a pervert?' Tyki laughs and brings Kira out of his thoughts.

"I'm not a pervert, if that's what you're thinking. I'm not doing all this just to get into your pants, I'm doing it because I care about you." Kira smiles and looks into Tyki's eyes, finding sincerity in them.

"Can I have some time to think about it?" Tyki smiles at Kira and hugs him from across the table, making sure that he doesn't shake the table too much.

"Of course you can, Kira. Take as much time as you need." He pulls away and pulls out his wallet. He takes out a twenty and lays it on the table. "Come on, we should go get the other two before they cause any trouble." They leave the café while saying goodbye to Bak and walk down the street to the closest book store. They walk into the store and separate to find the two faster. Kira walks towards the back where they have couches, making the store seem more comfortable. He sees a flash of red and smiles, walking a little faster to Lavi.

"Hey La-" A hand covers his mouth and he's pulled into one of the aisles, another hand wrapping around his stomach, holding his arms to his sides. His eyes are wide and he immediately starts struggling against the hold.

"Stop moving! Little punk!" A man hissed in his ear, trying to stay quiet. He starts moving backwards with Kira struggling in his hands, kicking and trying to bite his hand. He pushes open a back door, where people can drop off books, and strains on keeping his hold on Kira. "Get out here and help me with him!" He shouts once the door is fully closed. A second later, another man gets out of a van and comes towards the struggling pair. Kira watches him come closer and sees, what looks like, a dirt mark on his wrist. The man reaches out to him and he sees that it's actually a tattoo of the cross that the Earl's henchmen are marked with. Kira kicks backwards and hits his captor in the knee, making him drop Kira. He pulls out his gun and points it at the man, shooting him in the head. Kira points it at the other man and he visibly freezes.

"What do you want?" He swallows thickly and looks at the small kid in front of him who didn't even blink when shooting his partner. His eyes are cold and narrowed, the same eyes of a killer with no mercy. "I asked you a question." He snarls out through clenched teeth.

"I'm supposed to bring you back to the Earl." The man raises his hands up in a surrendering position, "He said to bring you back alive, so he could have the fun." Kira pulls the trigger, adding more blood to his clothes. He wipes of Cross' gun and looks towards the van the men came out of. Opening the door, he pulls his gun up in case someone hid in the car, no one in sight. He lowers the gun and looks inside, finding nothing but some loose change and a jacket, probably one of the men's back there. He puts the oversized jacket on, zipping it up and putting the hood up, and wipes the sleeves on his face to get rid of any blood.

"Damn it…" Kira curses while dragging the men into the van and closing the door. 'I guess he found me. What am I going to do now?' He hears sirens in the distance and curses again. "Fuck, we have to get out of here." He runs through the door he was previously dragged out of and looks around. He sees Lavi, Tyki, and Road all near the back where he saw Lavi before the man grabbed him. "Guys! Come on, we're leaving!" He yells while running up to the group that is now staring at him.

"Why Allen, what's the hurry?" Road asks as he grabs her hand and starts fast-walking up to the front of the store, the other two following. Kira doesn't answer her and keeps walking. Once outside, he curses again, actually seeing the lights of the sirens down the road.

"I'll give you the short version; almost got kidnapped, shot two men, someone called the police. Now, we have to _leave._" Road pulls her hand away and runs ahead of Kira to a car parked on the side.

"Hurry up guys!" The three boys jog up to the car and Tyki unlocks the doors. Tyki and Road are in the front with Lavi and Kira in the back. Tyki starts the car and drives off just as the police get to the store.

"What about my car?" Lavi asks once Tyki passed a few lights, legally, of course.

"Sorry Lavi, we'll get it when the place isn't full of police." Kira pats his shoulder and leaves blood behind from the sleeve. "Oh God, sorry Lavi! I forgot there was blood!" Lavi looks at it then back to Kira.

"Is it yours?" He shakes head, "Then it's fine." Lavi shrugs his shoulders and picks at the jacket Kira has on. "You want to explain to us why you had to shoot them and who they were, exactly?"

"They were Akuma and they said their mission was to kidnap me and take me back to the earl. He's finally found me and he's trying to get me back." Kira takes off the coat and puts it on his lap.

"That's why you have it!" Road exclaims while turning around in her seat, pointing at Kira.

"Excuse me?" Kira stares at her hand as if it was about to bite him and Road points at her own left eye with the same hand.

"Your mark. It's my design. I was wondering why you had it and I thought that maybe you are the kid Neah always talks about." She smiles and Kira looks at her with wide eyes.

"It's _your_ design?" Kira's voice is suddenly cold and full of malice.

"Ah, but I didn't actually do it on anyone!" She defended, "I just made a doll once with the same mark and I had to leave it behind! He must have seen it and liked it, or something."

"Wait, I'm sooo confused right now." Lavi groans from next to Kira, "So what you're saying is that Road is the cause for your mark?" He points at Kira's eye and Road's shout of 'it's not my fault!' was ignored.

"Road and I used to be part of the whole thing the Earl has going on, her dad too. After Neah showed us the truth behind his actions, we left and never turned back." Tyki says, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Really? Does that mean you guys know Neah?" Lavi's eye is wide with surprise and Kira laughs softly.

"Yes, they do. Tyki already set up a meeting with him for later this week, so Allen will be coming back out sooner than I thought." Lavi smiles and punches Kira lightly in the arm.

"That's great dude! Now you can finally reconnect with your uncle and all that crap!" Kira shakes his head with a smile and Road looks at Tyki questioningly.

"I'll explain later." He whispers to her with a knowing look and Road pouts, slumping in her seat with her arms crossed. Whatever, as long as Tyki tells her later what he means by 'Allen will be coming back.' Ten minutes later, they're at Kira's house, pulling up to the driveway. "Kira, come on. You two, stay in here, we'll be back shortly." Lavi looks at Kira, but he just shrugs before getting out of the car with Tyki. He unlocks the front door and goes straight to his room to get his bloody clothes off, Tyki following him the whole way.

"So, what are you planning?" Kira asks Tyki as he looks around his room curiously. He digs through his wardrobe for some clean clothes and Tyki just watches him.

"Well, after that incident, you seriously don't expect me to let you live alone, do you?" Kira closes the wardrobe and looks back at Tyki with a smile.

"I figured as much. Fine, just let me get changed and I'll start packing. Could you actually get the suitcase from under the bed for me?" He walks towards the bathroom and Tyki's already on his knees, digging under the bed for the said suitcase. He closes and locks the bathroom door before stripping out of his dirty clothes.

'Why did he go to the bathroom to change?' Tyki pulls the suitcase up and lays it on the bed before standing straight, 'What exactly is he hiding under his clothes?' He opens the case and looks around the room, deciding to help him by starting the packing for him. He walks to the wardrobe and swings open the doors, seeing it filled with monochrome colors. He goes through the clothes quickly, and all of his shirts are white, black, or gray, no color at all! Kira comes back out of the bathroom with his dirty clothes in hand. "Hope you don't mind, but I started packing for you."

"Not at all, just take the clothes and throw them in there. You don't have to be neat about it, especially since Lavi and Road are waiting for us." He puts his dirty clothes in the trash, knowing that he won't be able to ever get the red stains out of the white. Tyki nods and grabs all the clothes off of the hangers and walks over to the bed, dumping them in the open suitcase.

"We can come back for everything else, just deal with the essentials for now." Tyki says and Kira nods his head, walking into the bathroom. He collects everything he needs into a plastic bag and ties it off. He throws it into the suitcase and moves to his bedside table. He opens the small drawer under it and collects the few things in there. He picks up an upside-down picture frame and looks at the picture. It's of a small brown-haired boy holding hands with a much taller, fancy suited man. You can only see the mouth of the taller man, the top hat's shadow obscuring the rest of his face, but you can tell he's happy because of the smile placed there.

"Who's that?" Tyki observes the picture from over his shoulder, feeling like he knows them from somewhere, but just can't place his finger on it.

"It's Allen and his father, Mana, when he was younger. His hair used to be brown before it changed white due to shock." He delicately places the picture frame into suitcase and closes it. "Okay, let's not make them wait any longer." He picks up the suitcase and faces Tyki. "Thank you Tyki, but I need to ask you something." They start walking out of the room and into the hallway.

"Sure, Kira, what is it?" They walk down the stairs and to the front door. Timcanpy sneaks out of Tyki's sleeve and onto Kira's head; Tyki slightly shocked as to how he got there and Kira just pats him a few times.

"Can I trust you with Allen?" They stop before the front door and Tyki looks back at Kira, his face serious. "Can I entrust you with him when I let him back out? I do not want to regret making this decision…" Tyki takes the suitcase from him and sets it aside. He places both of his hands on his shoulders and looks him dead in the eyes.

"I promise you that I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to Allen. Besides, if I did let something, his uncle would kill me." He laughs and picks up the suitcase again, opening the door. "Don't worry, you won't regret this." He leaves the door and Kira follows a moment later. They get into the car and tell Road and Lavi what they're doing before driving off. Tyki drops Lavi off at his house and drives to his own home, happy that he has someone else in his big, empty house.

"Come on Kira! I want to show you my room!" Road pulls Kira through the front door and up the stairs. "Lavi explained everything to me, so you don't have to worry. Tyki doesn't let his things get taken easily~" Before Kira could say anything, he's pushed into a pink room. A giant canopy bed by the wall, _covered_ in plush dolls and animals. Everything in the room is either white or pink, clashing with her black gothic-loli clothes scattered around the floor. Outside, Tyki shakes his head with a smile and picks up the suitcase left behind. He walks into the house and up the stairs to a guest room right next to his own. He leaves the suitcase by the door and goes into Road's room, seeing Road show Kira all of her toys.

"Road, don't you think you should let Kira get situated before 'playing' with him?" Tyki raises his eyebrow and Road pouts, letting her toy fall to the ground.

"Fine, but I get to play with him after you!" Tyki sighs and motions for Kira to follow him out. He apologizes to Road and follows after Tyki into the guest room down the hall.

"This is your room. It's kind of empty so feel free to make it your own. My room's right next to here, so if you need anything just ask." Tyki picks up the suitcase and walks it to the bed, "Well, I'll let you get unpacked. I'll call you when dinner's ready." Kira nods his head and watches Tyki go back to the door, about to leave.

"Don't forget what you said earlier, Tyki." He stops in his spot and replies without turning around before leaving.

"I won't, Kira."

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**Happy Easter people! And if you don't celebrate Easter, then just eat some candy! This chapter's a bit shorter than the others; therefore, I feel it's a little rushed. Most of this was written today and with getting ready for school and having family over, I was just trying to get it done, really. Sorry if you feel cheated out of having a better chapter, I'll try to make the next one better! Like I said before, my updating is not going to be as frequent due to school from now on T^T It's horrible, I know. Anyway, please leave a review and enjoy the rest of your Easter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**The lemon won, but I'm not going to be able to fit it into this chapter and probably the next one too… I have to wait on the lemon because if I try to fit it into some random chapter, then everything will get confusing for me and we do not want that… Anyway, here's the next chapter for all you patient people~!**

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

"Thanks Tyki, I'll see you after school." Tyki waves and drives off, leaving Kira in front of the school grounds. Kira turns around and walks towards the front doors.

"Allen, there you are!" Lenalee shouts, running up to him and giving him a hug. "Lavi told us everything that happened. Are you sure it's a good idea to move in with someone you just met?" Kanda and Lavi come walking up a moment later, Lenalee pulling back from the embarce.

"I didn't really have a choice, Lenalee. Besides, he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer." He smiles reassuringly and before Lenalee could say anything, the bell rings from inside the building. "Come on, we're going to be late if we don't hurry." They walk into the building and go their separate ways. Kira opens his locker and pulls out his binder before throwing in his bag. He closes his locker and goes upstairs to his first period class, advanced art. He walks into the room and goes to the back where his assigned seat is. He looks around and notices that Lenalee isn't present, 'Probably had to help Komui with something.'

"Okay, class, we are going to make clay masks today!" Tiedoll calls out from the front, "I will pass out clay slabs and you can get the supplies needed from the carts up here. If you need any help, don't be afraid to ask." He smiles warmly and starts cutting up the clay blocks and laying the pieces on boards. He passes off each board to a student as they come up in a line to get their supplies. After everybody had received their clay and have gotten their supplies, Tiedoll excused himself from the classroom after getting a call on the class phone. Surprisingly, the class stayed behaved, as if he was still there. The talking got a bit louder, but that's it. After about ten minutes of Tiedoll's absence, a three kids came up to Kira while he was carving out the eyes for his mask.

"What the Hell did you do to Erick?" Kira looks up at the boys and notices that they are the kids that were with Erick in the gym when Allen got hit with the jump rope.

"Excuse me?" The boy scowls and slams his hands on the table, the other two watching Kira with frowns on their faces.

"I said, 'what did you do to Erick?' Everytime we want to fuck with someone, he gets nervous and goody-goody all of a sudden. Saying that we shouldn't do that shit anymore. So, I'll repeat myself, what the fuck did you do to him?" Kira rises from his seat and looks at the group with a confused look.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't do anything to Erick. If I recall it correctly, _he_ whipped _me._ Ever since that day in gym, I haven't seen him." He glances around the room and sees a few kids staring at them, but Tiedoll and Lenalee are still gone.

"You fucking liar, you had to do something to him to make him act like that!" He slams his hands harder on the table, making everyone in the class look at them. The boy raises his clenched fist and throws a punch at Kira's face, hitting him in the cheek. His head is sharply turned to the side and he stays like that, shock evident on his face, before turning back to look at the boy with a smug look on his face. Kira gets over the initial shock and looks back at him with a straight face.

"If that's how you want to do this, so be it." He smiles a Cheshire cat grin and the boys falter a little before regaining their composure. The first boy throws another punch and Kira dodges it before jabbing him in the stomach, making him keel over the table. Kira walks around the table so he's in front of them and the other students start standing and gather around them, making a make-shift fighting ring with their bodies.

"Bastard!" The boy left of Kira says while the first boy still tries to get over the pain. He pounces forward and aims for Kira's head. He grabs his hand, deflecting his fist, and punches him in the stomach before kicking him towards the first boy, still trying to stand straight. The third one comes up from behind him and holds his arms behind Kira. The first one finally stands straight, not without holding his stomach, of course. He throws another punch to Kira's face, but he ducks at the last moment, making him hit the kid behind him instead. He stumbles back, letting go of Kira and holds his face. Kira doesn't miss the chance and kicks the guy behind him in the legs, sending him to the ground. He punches the other two and sends them to the ground as well. He gives each a kick in the stomach, just for good measure.

"Allen!" Tiedoll yells from the front of the class, getting through the croud around Kira. "What happened here?" He looks at the three boys, then back to Kira. He pales when he sees no emotion playing on the boy's face. He stands up again and tells a few of the students to help the three boys on the ground to the nurse's office. He goes back up to the front of the room and calls the office for Komui and the school counselor to get this mess sorted out. In the whole time it took to get the students calm again, the three boys and Kira into Komui's office, and explaining everything, Kira didn't say a word. Even now, in the office where the three oys are pinning the whole thing on Kira, he stays mute and disinterested in the situation.

"Allen, what do you have to say to this?" The counselor, Klaud Nine, asks from the side after the boys explained what happened, lies obviously.

"I was defending myself. They came up to me and he threw the first punch," He gestures to one of the teens and before the boy could defned himself, Kira continued, "So, I thought it appropriate to defend myself, so that I wouldn't get hurt. But, I have to say," He smiles innocently and tilts his head a little to the side, "It was quite fun handing their asses to them." Komui and Klaud look a bit startled at this and look at each other before dismissing the four boys after giving them a detention.

"I'm guessing you want some counseling for him?" Klaud asks after the boys had left to their classes with passes.

"Definitely. I'm surprised, he wasn't like this when he first arrived here. What happened?" Komui takes a drink from his coffee mug while looking at Klaud.

"I don't know, but it's my job to find out isn't it? I'll help him, don't worry. Shouldn't you call Cross about this?" She stands up and heads near the door, waiting for Komui's answer.

"Yeah, I will. Wonder how he'll take it." He laughs lightly and Klaud leaves the office, letting Komui get back to his work, even if he doesn't do any of it. Komui picks up the phone and dials Cross' number, already memorised from knowing the man for so long. The phone starts ringing and after a while the messaging system comes up. "Huh, that's strange… He always answers when I call his cell…" Komui shrugs it off and goes back to doing everything, but his work, piling on his desk and on the floor. The rest of the school day goes without a hitch, except for the glares sent to Kira by the three boys he beat up. Lavi and Lenalee ask about it, but he just shrugs his shoulders.

"Allen, Komui told me that Klaud was planning to talk to you sometime. Is everything okay?" Lenalee asks while walking towards the front of the school. The bell just rang and kids are rushing to get out of the building to get home.

"Yes, everything's fine. In the beginning of the year, Komui said that Klaud was aware of my situation and that if I needed anything, not to hesitate to ask. He probably just wants to check up on me." Kira easily lied to his friends, not wanting them to know what he did earlier in art class, even though Kanda will most likely hear it from his father, Lenalee from Komui, and Lavi from just being the curious child he is. They're going to find out soon enough and he'll explain when that time comes. A slick, black Jag pulls up in front of the group and rolls down the window. "My ride's here, I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Kira calls out while running up to the car and slipping into the car seat. He waves at the three teens as he leaves the parking lot and waits until they're out of sight before turning to Tyki.

"So, how was school?" He asks after Kira turned back to him.

"Pretty boring, except for first period. It seems that I will be talking to the counselor from now on…" Tyki glances at Kira with a confused look, wanting him to explain. Kira gets the idea and continues, "I may have acted a bit out of character and it was brought to the teachers' attention, unfortunately." He raises and eyebrow, bu doesn't push any further. They get to Tyki's home and spend the rest of the day seperately, busy with their own things to do. They see each other for dinner, but that's it. The next day, school's the same as usual, mindblowingly boring. Tyki texts Kira in the middle of the day, saying that he wouldn't be able to pick him up and that he wouldn't be home until late that night. Kira gets a ride from Kanda which ends up having a ride from Lenalee and Lavi, he didn't want to waste gas.

"Hey, Kira, you want some company since Tyki's not home?" Lavi asks as Kanda pulls up into the driveway.

"Sure, I don't think Tyki would mind as long as you don't make a mess." Everyone gets out of the car and enters the house, looking around, and entering the living room. Everyone finds their own spot in the room, making themselves comfortable. "You guys hungry?"

"Naw, just some drinks will do Kira." Lavi answers for everyone as Kira walks into the kitchen getting some glasses out. He walks back into the living room with the four glasses and sits in an armchair in between Lavi and Lenelee. After about an hour, the doorbell rings and Kira excuses himself while Lavi finishes his story about his travels with Bookman. Kira sets his drink down on a counter on the way to the door and straightens his shirt a bit. He opens the door and is met with a blond-haired man with his hair back in a braid. Behind him is a taller, more intimidating looking man who creepily resembles Adolph Hitler, especially with his toothbrush mustach.

"Hello, can I help you?" Kira looks away from the bigger man and to the smaller one, not wanting to intimidate him.

"Yes, we are looking for an Allen Walker and we understand that he is at this residence. Can we speak with him?" The smaller one says with stiff shoulders, being as professional as he can.

"May I ask who wishes to speak with him?" Kira starts feeling a bit nervous, wondering why someone would want to talk to Allen.

"I am Howard Link and this is Malcolm C. Leverrier. We work for the Army and need to ask Mr. Walker a few questions about his guardian, Cross Marian." Kira nods his head and lets the two men in and leads them to the living room after sending his three friends to one of the back rooms.

"I am Allen Walker, what did you need to ask?" He sits down on the couch opposite of the two intimidating men and tries to calm his racing heart.

"We haven't received a report from General Cross in over five years and now that we finally found him, we would like to know what he has been doing in his absence." Link states brushing a few strands of hair behind his ear only to have it fall back into place.

"As far as I know, he has been taking care of me as my legal guardian for the time he has been absent from his duties. If you don't mind, can I ask exactly what your positions are in the Army?" Link looks up at Leverrier and when he receives a nod, he turns back to Kira.

"I am the personal assistant of Leverrier whereas he is the Head of Command at Central Control. He commands the soldiers of the Army, giving them missions and keeping track of what they are doing." Kira nods his head in understanding. "Now, where is General Cross at this moment?" Kira visibly stiffens and his beating heart races even more.

"I'm not sure. Last I saw him he was drunk and I didn't even stay long for that. I stayed at my friend's house Thursday night, I think it was, and when I came back Sunday morning, he was gone." Kira shrugs and chews the inside of his cheek, a habit he couldn't kick, without realising it.

"Why are you staying here if you have a perfectly good house to go to?" Link asks after writing something down on a clipboard that he carried in with him.

"It's lonely to stay in a big house by myself. I met Mr. Mikk at a Halloween party and he had told me that he used to know Cross before he had taken me in. We talked and he invited me to stay here until Cross came back from God-knows-where." He waves his hand in the air to bring his point across even further. Link nods his head while writing on his clipboard, the sound of the pen scribbling echoing in the silence of the room.

"Okay, that is all for now. If we need anything else, you will be here, right?" Link asks while standing from his seat. Kira nods his head and stands as well.

"Just a moment, Link." Leverrier's deep, baritone voice rings through the air and Link pauses in his movement to look back at his boss. "Walker, you said that Cross had received legal guardianship over you. In your records, there is a dead space between you being under Mana Walker's care and Cross Marian's." Kira's eyes widen in size, shock evident on his face, "Would you care to explain what happened in that time-frame, for our records of course." He smiles, but it's clear to anyone in the room that it's a cruel smile, like a cat that had just caught a bird.

"During that time," Kira swallows the lump in his throat, "I was taken from the hospital by a man known as the Millenium Earl. It wasn't until Cross had found me and taken me back that I was put into his care." Leverrier seems satisfied by this answer and stands up, that smile still plastered on his face.

"We will be seeing you later, Walker." Kira nods numbly, watching Link and Leverrier escort themselves out of the house and his friends rushing down the hallway towards him.

"Fucking bastard, I can't believe he even came here." Kanda sneers out as soon as he enters the living room, glaring at the door as if Leverrier was right there.

"You know him?" Kira asks with a deep frown on his face.

"Yeah, we all do. Gramps and I had to deal with him a few times and he's a fucking manipulator. He abuses his power and when he wants something, nothing will stop him since he's in such a high position." Lavi adds putting his hand on Kira's shoulder.

"I hate that man… He's the most horrible person I've ever met. Nii-san works for him as a scientist and even then, he's manipulating and cold." Lenlee mutters from her spot, staring at the door. Kanda holds her hand in his and squeezes it reassuringly. She squeezes it back and smiles softly up to him.

"Well, that's great, now Allen has a Hitler-wannabe stalking his life." Kira sighs and runs a hand through his hair, trying to deal with all the stress overcoming his mind.

"That's not exactly true," Lavi distracts Kira from his depressing thoughts, "If anything, he'll have Link stalk you and just report what you do. He's really stuck-up at first, but after a while, Link doesn't act like he has a stick up his ass."

"Really? But, still, I'm going to have a stalker who reports to the _Army_ on what I do everyday, especially if I do something that someone doesn't agree with." Kira sighs again and walks down the hallway to his own room. He opens the door and is greeted by Timcanpy flying around him a few times before landing on his head. He pats his head (body?) and goes to his bed, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. He writes a small paragraph on the paper explaining to Tyki that he is out and doesn't know what time he'll be back.

"What you doin' Kira?" Lavi asks while walking into the room with his hands behind his head.

"I'm writing a note to Tyki saying that I'm just out and I don't know what time I'll be back. I don't want him worrying about me if he gets here before I get back." He finishes writing the note and lays it on his bed before leaving the room with Lavi following. It'll be easy to see the note since the room is really clean and it's the only thing in there that seems out of place. "You guys can go now, you know. I'm sure your families are worried that you weren't home right after school."

"Are you sure Kira? What are you going to do?" Lenalee asks, watching Kira grab a key from the counter and head towards the front door.

"I'm just going to go for a walk, you know, clear my head while I have the chance." Kira shrugs and opens the door, waiting for the three teens to go through the door and locks it.

"Okay, well, we'll see you tomorrow at school!" Lenalee hugs Kira quickly before rushing to the car with Kanda behind her. Lavi gives him a quick hug and says goodbye before following after Kanda and Lenalee and leaving the neighborhood. Kira stands there for a moment before walking down the sidewalk and down the street. He's suddenly glad that he chose to wear a hoodie and baggy jeans today because the wind is starting to pick up. It's really late fall and early winter, you can see the signs of winter and it looks as if it would snow any moment. Kira pulls his hood up and walks in a random direction, wanting to explore this area since he's never been to this part of town until he moved in with Tyki. After a few hours, he ends up at a park and decides to take a break on the swings since no one else is there.

"It's probably late…" Tim flies out of his hood, pushing it down and Kira lets it stay down, not bothering with it. Timcanpy flies onto his lap and looks up at him with a loving expression. Kira smiles and pets him, Tim nuzzling up to his hand as if sensing his master's distress and trying to comfort him. Kira stays there for a while and plays with the swirl at the end of Tim's tail before someone walks up to him and he looks up.

"May I sit here?" A dark-skinned man asks Kira. He has black spiky hair and is wearing a trench coat, white dress shirt, black pants, and a simple black ribbon is tied around his neck. He gestures towards the swing next to Kira and Kira nods his head. He smiles and sits on the swing, pushing himself slightly with his feet like a little kid would. "So, what are you doing here? It's getting late, aren't your parents going to get worried?"

"No, I don't have parents. I just wanted to go on a walk to clear my mind." The man's smile disappears and he starts apoligizing, "No, it's okay, you couldn't have known." Kira smiles to the man and he smiles back.

"Is there anything you want to talk about? You don't have to give me details." Kira turns his attention back to the golem in his lap and pets it.

"Well, everything just seems to be going wrong for me lately. I've lost a few special people and trouble just keeps finding me everywhere I go. It's like I can't get away from the darkness of my past." The man stops swinging his legs and looks down at the ground in front of him.

"I know how that feels." Kira looks up at him with a confused look, "I used to stay in the same place, in the past, and try to deal with everything at once, but that didn't work out so well. The best thing to do is to keep walking and deal with it as you go along, not letting anything stop you on your journey. Just keep walking." Kira's wide eyes are set on the man in front of him, but he doesn't notice it, his eyes still trained on the ground in front of him. Kira smiles a big grin and looks back at Tim.

"That sounds like a great idea, thank you." The man looks up at him with a smile on his face before standing from the swing.

"Well, I'll have to take my leave now. I'll see you around?" Kira stands as well and takes the man's hand in his own, shaking it briefly.

"I hope so." The man smiles again and leaves the park, disappearing into the darkness surrounding the park. 'When did it get dark?' Tim flies up onto his shoulder and Kira starts walking in the opposite direction of the man, back tracing his steps to get back home. He's glad that he mostly just went straight and only took a few turns, otherwise he wouldn't be able to find Tyki's house. He doesn't even know how many hours had passed since he left, but he's guessing that it's around 9 now. As the house comes into view, he sees a second car parked in the driveway behind Tyki's. He walks up to the front door and enters the warm house, hearing Tyki talking to another man in the living room. "Tyki, I'm back!"

"Allen! There you are! I have someone here I would like you to meet." He stands from his seat and gestures to the man opposite of him, but Kira can't see his face since his back is turned towards him. "Allen, this is Neah; Neah, this is Allen." The man stands up, facing Kira and both their eyes go wide with shock.

"You're the man from the park…" Kira mumbles, staring at his supposed uncle with disbelieving eyes. Neah looks back at Tyki, then back to Kira.

"Wait, _you're_ Allen? Like, Allen Walker?" Kira nods numbly, still trying to get over the shock of seeing his uncle right in front of him. He doesn't have to search anymore; he's _here_, right in front of him. Neah lunges forward and pulls Kira into a tight hug, as if he would disappear if he let go. After a moment, Kira raises his own arms and hugs back after getting the idea of him _right here_, holding him, in his mind. "I can't believe it. I thought you were dead." He mumbles into Kira's hair, holding him even tighter if that's possible. Tyki looks at the two with a smile on his face before excusing himself to the kitchen, so that they could have some privacy.

"You're here… You're really here…" Kira says into Neah's shirt. Neah pulls away and holds him at arm's length, looking at his body.

"You've grown a lot! Last time I saw you, you were still in diapers and look at you now! Did you bleach your hair?" He starts talking and Kira just stares at him and waits until he finishes. When it looks like that he isn't going to take a breath anytime soon, Kira interrupts him.

"Sorry Neah, but we really need to talk. There's some stuff you should know." Neah immediately shuts his mouth and looks at Kira with a serious expression.

"Sure Allen, what'd you want to talk about?" They both sit on the nearest couch and Neah looks at Kira concerned.

"You have to know that I'm not really Allen. Well, I _am _Allen, just not right now." Neah looks at him with a confused expression and Kira sighs, "Allen has multiple personality and I'm his other personality, Kira. I'm the result of all the horrible events in Allen's life." Neah's eyes widen and he stares at Kira for a second before speaking.

"So… Allen's not here…?" Kira shakes his head, "Then, why are you out?"

"He saw something that triggered a response in me. Since then, I've kept him inside because I needed to find you to help me." Neah sits straight in his seat and a look of determination crosses his face.

"What do I need to do to get Allen out?"

"When I let him out, I know that he's going to be a complete mess… I needed to find you so that he would have a family to support him, not just friends. I need you to be there for Allen, especially now, after everything that just happened." Neah stays silent for a moment before nodding.

"What exactly triggered him to turn to you?" Neah asks while Tyki joins them again from the kitchen, sitting on a loveseat across them. Kira frowns and glances at Tyki.

"Halloween morning, Allen went into Cross' room and found blood by the window. The glass was shattered and blood was splattered all over it and the floor. The only thing he could find was his gun, his body wasn't even there." Neah's eyes get even wider and his jaw goes slack.

"You're kidding. Cross… is gone?" Kira nods his head and Neah runs a hand through his hair.

"That's what I said. I couldn't believe that someone had finally gotten to him, I still kind of don't." Tyki says from his seat, shrugging. Kira stands from the couch and walks towards the hallway.

"I'm going to go to bed now. I'll see you guys in the morning, good night." Neah and Tyki call out good nights as Kira walks into his bedroom. He gets undressed and puts on a plain white shirt with loose black pants. He falls into his bed and watches Timcanpy land on the bed edge in front of him. He crawls forward until he's snuggled up against Kira's cheek and they both fall asleep like that, Kira's soft snores filling the room. Back in the living room, Tyki looks at the downcast man before him with sympathetic eyes.

"I can't believe it… I should've gone back for him! But, no, I had to hide away because I'm a fucking coward!" Neah yells from his seat, keeping his head down.

"Be quieter, he's sleeping," Tyki reminds him, "Besides, that doesn't matter now, what done is done. At least you're here for him now and you can take care of him."

"I know that, but still." Neah continues in a smaller voice, "He has a mark from _him._ I could've stopped that."

"No, you couldn't. It's not your fault that he got that, you weren't anywhere near London when that happened." Tyki reassures the man and Neah lets out another sigh.

"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that I feel horrible for it…" He buries his head in his hands and Tyki sits himself next to Neah to comfort him.

"You can make up for it now. You're here, so you can help him through everything now." He rubs his back a little and Neah rests his forearms on his knees. "I'm going to go to bed now, you know where your room is, right?" He receives a nod and stands up. "Okay, I'll see you in the morning, good night." He walks down the hall, not waiting for a reply, and goes into his own room for the night. Neah stays like that for a while until he finally got up and heads down the hall. Before he enters his own room, he opens Kira's door slightly and looks inside, seeing a sleeping boy on the bed with a golden golem against his cheek. He smiles and slowly closes the door to prevent any sound. He walks into his room, placed next to Kira's, and takes off his trench coat, laying it on the table. He just undoes his pants and the first few buttons on his shirt, taking off his shoes and socks next. He collapses onto the bed and pulls the covers over himself before falling into a troubled sleep.

**o.O.0.O.o.**

**Hey guys! I'm not dead! I'm planning on doing a chapter every weekend since that's the only free time I have. Hope you liked this chapter, I did, so I'm happy~ Guess I'll talk to you guys next week!**


	8. Chapter 8

**God, I'm so sorry! I know this is late, but the whole explanation is on the bottom! For now, just enjoy this chapter~**

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

"But I don't wanna!" Lavi cries from his spot on the floor, trying to pull his hand away from Lenalee's grip.

"Lavi, you have to! Don't be difficult about it!" She tugs on his arm, only pulling him forward a few centimeters before groaning in frustration.

"No! If I go then Gramps is going to beat me and make me do extra work!" He jerks his arm away from Lenalee and crosses his legs.

"Lavi, please don't make a scene about this. You have to go back home sometime!" Lenalee rubs at her forehead and looks at Lavi pleadingly. He shakes his head and crosses his arms, looking away from Lenalee. She groans again and looks around the club, glaring at the people who decided to stare at them. After they had left Kira at Tyki's place, they (meaning Lavi and Lenalee) decided they should go to a club to burn off some steam. They couldn't drink, but they could still have fun. Lavi had somehow gotten a hold of some alcohol, like every other time they come here, and gotten drunk. It's now early in the morning and Lenalee is trying to get Lavi home, with no success.

"No! I'm staying right here!" He pouts and glances at Lenalee's furious expression before staring back at the crowd of people on the dance floor. Lenalee looks around for Kanda and sees him in a booth, sipping on a drink and glaring at anyone who tried to come up to him. She rushes over to him and leaves Lavi on the floor. He glares at her figure, but after seeing that it was his girlfriend, his gaze softens.

"Kanda, I need your help in getting Lavi out of here. He's just sitting on the floor like a 5 year old having a tantrum! He refuses to move!" Lenalee shouts at Kanda, trying to be heard over the music, while dragging him out of his seat and towards the area where she left Lavi. Kanda looks behind Lenalee and frowns. He sees Lavi flat on his ass, talking to someone with a goofy grin on his face. He hurries his steps and gets to the two before Lenalee.

"Back off," Kanda glares at the guy talking to Lavi while grabbing his arm, pulling him up. "Usagi, get the fuck up before I beat you." Lavi whines a bit at the grip on his arm and tries to pry it off.

"Hey, I wasn't going to do anything, I was just talking to him." The guy defends himself, putting his hands up to push his point further. Kanda growls at Lavi, finally getting him stand on his feet, using his body as a support.

"Like hell you weren't. Go prey on some other drunk, you bastard." Lenalee comes over and helps support Lavi on his other side while glancing at the other person warily. He sneers before turning away and disappearing into the crowd. Kanda glares at his back and drags Lavi out of the club entrance with the help of Lenalee. "How many times have I done this shit for your dumb ass?"

"Eighteen times, Yu~" Lavi laughs out, apparently finding the previous situation funny and trying to fight a fit of giggles that overcame him. "And every time you do, it further proves the fact that you care about me and don't want me to get raped~"

"How the Hell did I get stuck with you?" Lenalee unlocks the doors for them and Kanda throws Lavi into the back seat before getting into the driver seat with Lenalee next to him.

"I think it's cute." Lenalee covers her mouth to hide her smile and giggles from her glaring boyfriend. "I mean, even if you say you hate him, you still stay with him and make sure that he doesn't get into any trouble. If you think about it, we're just like a family." Lavi sits up in his seat looking up at the roof of the ceiling with a smile on his face.

"Yu's the daddy~" Kanda tightens his grip on the steering wheel, glaring at the road ahead of him, "Lenalee's the mommy because of her caring nature and Allen's the younger brother that everyone loves!" Lenalee laughs at Lavi's words and looks at Kanda's annoyed face.

"As much as you hate it, it's true, Kanda. We're the parents and Lavi and Allen are the kids." She places her hand on his forearm and he relaxes. Lavi's laughing could be heard from the back making Kanda stress his arms a little.

"Don't forget about our other family members! Komui, Tiedoll, Cross, and Gramps, the crazy-ass uncles, but we love them anyway." Lavi falls to the side, lying on the black leather of the seat, sounding tired now.

"What would Kira be considered?" Kanda asks after a moment, looking back at Lavi through the rear-view mirror. Lavi stays silent and they thought that he had fallen asleep until his voice rings through the car.

"He's the long-lost brother. He's totally different from all of us, but since he seems to be part of Allen, we love him just the same." Lavi closes his eye and falls asleep in a fetal position on the leather. Lenalee smiles and looks at Kanda, seeing his body relaxed and the ghost of a smile on his face. The rest of the car ride is spent in silence and they get to Kanda's house. Lenalee helps Kanda in getting his lax body into his house and into one of the spare rooms. They didn't take him to his house in fear of waking up Bookman and they didn't want to be rude (Kanda actually didn't mind, it was Lenalee who made him take him home).

"We're definitely not going to school tomorrow. We'll be too tired to function." Lenalee says quietly, silently closing the door to Lavi's temporary room. She's very glad that no one else is in the house; Tiedoll being at school to be ready for the day, Marie and Daisya went with him since they are both club captains that require them to be there earlier than everybody else. Kanda sighs and nods his head.

"You want to stay here, or you want me to drive you?" Kanda asks locking the front door, already knowing the answer.

"I'll just stay here, if you don't mind. I don't want to go back to my house with no one in it." Kanda takes her hand in his and leads her to his bedroom. He gives her a loose shirt and pants before going into the bathroom to change. He comes back out after a few minutes and sees Lenalee already in his bed, getting comfortable. He crawls into the bed and wraps an arm around her waist, protectively. "We're not doing anything with Lavi in the next room." Lenalee says after his hand got a little too low for her liking.

"Fine." He growls out, settling for wrapping his arms around her and letting Lenalee rest on his chest. She kisses Kanda with a smile before going to sleep, him following soon after. At Tyki's house, Neah is waking up from a fitful sleep.

"God, I feel like shit…" Neah groans into the silence of the room. He gets up and shuffles out of his room, yawning. He enters the kitchen and pulls out a mug from the cabinet, filling it with the still-fresh drink in the coffee pot. Neah leans against the counter and sighs deeply before drinking half of the cup in one gulp. He looks over at the table and sees the newspaper there with a sticky-note on it. After reading the note, that says that Tyki will be out for the morning, probably longer, he goes into the living room and sits on the couch.

"Ah!" Allen lands hard on his back, arms and legs tangled in the sheets of the bed. He sits up and leans against the bed, looking around the room with wide eyes. "Wha-" He hisses in pain and grabs his head with both hands. Memories flash before his eyes and he grips his head tighter, trying to control the immense pain in his head. Allen gasps and pulls his legs into his chest. "Stop…!" The memories keep coming, filling his head with the missing pieces of his past. "STOP!" Suddenly, everything freezes. Allen's left sitting there, panting and still holding his head. The door is thrown open and his head shoots up at the sound of the door hitting the wall.

"Kira, are you okay?" Neah rushes in and stops in front of Allen. "What happened?" He steps forward and Allen scooches to the side, away from Neah. "Kira…?"

"Get out!" Allen yells at him, shakily getting up onto the bed, further away from his uncle. Neah's eyes widen with realization and he steps forward again. "I said get out!"

"But Allen-"

"Get away from me!" Allen throws a book from the bedside table at him and looks around for something else to throw.

"Okay, okay! I'm going!" He runs out the door and shuts it before the next object Allen picks up could hit him. He rests his back against the door and sighs. "Damn, this is going to be harder than I thought." Allen breathes in and out, trying to calm his racing heart to no avail. He jumps off the bed and goes to the door, locking it. He leans heavily against the door, slowly sliding down until he's sitting on the floor with his knees up to his chest.

"Oh God…" He covers his mouth with his still-gloved hand, tears falling from his wide eyes. "I want Mana…" His tears are coming down heavily now and he rests his head on his knees, letting out a sob. Neah walks back into the living room, unsure of what to do. He scratches his neck and looks around for his phone. He finds it in his room and looks for Tyki's number in the contact list. He presses the call button and listens to the rings until the voice machine comes up.

"Yeah, it's Neah. I guess Allen's back and I tried to see if he was okay, but he kicked me out of the room by throwing stuff at me. I'm not too sure what to do now, so if you could call me and, I don't know, help me, that would be great." By the end of his sentence, his tone got a little sarcastic. He didn't mean it to, it just happened. Neah snaps the phone shut just as he hears another phone ringing. He looks down at his own, but it's not his that's ringing, and it's not the house phone ringing because of the music playing as the ring tone. Heading back into the living room, the music gets louder and he sees the source of it on the coffee table. "Whose phone is that?" The caller ID says 'Lenalee' and he answers it. "Hello…?"

"…_Kira? Is that you?" _Lenalee asks, the voice on the other side sounds nothing like Kira's, or Allen's.

"No, this is Kira's uncle. May I ask what you want with him?"

"_Oh my God, really? _You're_ Neah?" _Neah hears muffled voices for a second before she returns. "_Is he there? We kinda planted this phone on him yesterday since he doesn't have one and I wanted to call him to test it out."_

"You… planted this phone on him? Well, that's pleasant…" He mumbles under his breath, not really caring if the girl could hear him. "Wait, are you his friend?"

"_Um… yeah? I like to think so, why?" _Lenalee answers with a slight laugh, curious about the question.

"Good, then you can help me with him. Allen locked himself in his room after I had tried talking to him this morning and he doesn't show any sign of coming out anytime soon." He glances down the hallway at Allen's door, "Do you think you could come over and get him out, or at least let me in?"

"_Whoa, Allen's out? I thought Kira was still in control. Lavi stop that!" _She smacks Lavi's hand away from her phone and gets a whined 'I wanna talk to him!' in return.

"No, I guess Kira let him back while he was sleeping. Back to the original question, do you think you could come over?"

"_Of course! We'll be over in, like, ten minutes!" _Before Neah could tell her the address, she hangs up the phone.

"I guess she already knows it…?" He shuts the phone and places it back on the table. Neah walks down the hallway, ignoring the chocked sobs coming from his nephew's room, and enters his room to get changed. Like the girl, Lenalee, promised, ten minutes later, the front door is being knocked on. He fixes the ribbon around his neck before heading towards the door and opening it to let in three strange looking teenagers.

"Hey, Tyki. Is Neah here?" The girl of the group asks Neah once inside.

"I am Neah…" He sighs out, used to this situation.

"Really? God, you look just like him! You could pull off being brothers." Lavi exclaims bouncing into the house, not really feeling the effects of a night spent heavily drinking.

"Yes, I know. People say that all the time. Now, can we get down to business?" Neah stresses, ignoring the glare sent to him by the girly-looking boy with a katana strapped to his hip.

"Where is he?" Lenalee asks seriously with the other two right behind her.

"Second door on your right in the hallway." He nods towards the hall where quiet sobs could be heard. Lenalee's eyes widen and she rushes down to the specified door with everyone else following. She stops in front of the wood and slowly brings her hand out to knock on it.

"Allen…? It's Lenalee. Please let us in." the sobs stop for a moment and shuffling could be heard for a second.

"Lenalee…?" Allen's muffled voice came through the wood of the door and she sighs in relief.

"Yeah Allen. Kanda, Lavi, and Neah are here too. Can you let us in…?" There's silence for a minute and Lenalee jumps slightly when his voice comes back, not expecting it.

"Just Lenalee…" She looks back at the other three and after receiving a nod from each of them she smiles.

"Okay Allen, just me. Can you unlock the door, so I can come in?" The sound of a lock is heard and the door is opened slightly, not enough to see into the room though. "Don't expect me back for awhile." Lenalee says before entering the room and relocking the door. She looks at Allen's shaking body before giving him a hug. Lavi and Kanda walk away from the hallway and into the living room, Neah staying longer until reluctantly following the other two.

"So, what happened this morning?" Lavi questions Neah as soon as he sits on the couch across from him and Kanda. With a sigh, Neah starts telling them everything that happened since the moment he got to this town on Tyki's request. After he finished explaining, the two boys look thoughtful. "So he just got freaked out this morning after seeing you. Well, that's not surprising." Lavi shrugs and Neah stares at him.

"What do you mean by that? I didn't do anything to make him react that way towards me!" Neah yells harshly and Lavi seems unfazed by it.

"It's normal for people to react that way when they regain their memories, especially when all those memories are as bad as Allen's." Neah visibly deflates in his seat as Lavi finishes. He never thought about that, much less what his memories actually consisted of. He glances down the hallway at Allen's door with a troubled look.

"Just what _did _he go through…?" Neah's question goes unanswered by the silence and he knows that the two teens on the couch in front of him are wondering that exact same question. After about ten minutes spent in silence, Lenalee comes through the door with red eyes and eyeliner smeared around them. Kanda stands up and meets her halfway to the living room making sure that she was okay before letting her continue.

"What did he say?" Lavi asks as she sits down on the couch with Kanda right next to her. She rubs at her eyes a little and lets out a sigh.

"He didn't really talk… but when I could understand him, he said that he remembers everything… From when he was kidnapped to all the blackouts he has now." Kanda wraps an arm around her waist and whispers in her ear, Lenalee nodding in response. Neah stares at the ground, finding a lint bunny very interesting at the moment. "He told me that he wanted to be alone for a while, so I left. I don't blame him…"

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Neah asks out of the blue. Kanda glares at Lavi and he pointedly ignores it.

"Talk to the stupid Usagi about that." Neah raises an eyebrow and looks at the red headed teen.

"Fine," He says after a minute of the adult staring at him, "I got drunk at a club and Yu took me to his house to sleep it off. It was really late and I guess we slept in…" Lavi scratches his cheek and Kanda slaps the back of his head, being careful of Lenalee in between them.

"Don't call me by my first name, baka Usagi." Kanda growls out and Neah decides not to question what that was, but asks something else.

"How did you get drunk? You're only eighteen, aren't you?" Before Lavi could reply, Tyki walks through the front door, tossing his coat over the couch Neah's sitting on.

"Do I want to know why everyone's in my living room looking miserable?" Tyki asks casually as he goes into the kitchen to pour himself some wine.

"Allen's back." Neah says and Tyki comes back out, wine glass in hand.

"Isn't that a good thing?" He sits next to Neah taking a sip of the deep red wine.

"Yeah, it is, but he also remembers everything that happened to him ever since he was kidnapped." Tyki coughs and places the wine on the table in front of him, pounding on his chest a few times. After he regained his composure, he looks towards Neah with wide eyes.

"What? Are you sure?" He glumly nods his head and Tyki looks towards the three teens on his couch. "Well, where is he now?"

"He locked himself in his room. He let Lenalee in there earlier, but he wanted to be alone." Lavi answered for Tyki and he looks down at the door with worried eyes.

"Are you sure that's a good idea…?" He asks, still staring down the hall.

"He's not going to do anything to hurt himself if that's what you mean." Lenalee deadpans, "He's stronger than that. Besides, he knows that he has us when he's ready to talk." Kanda and Lavi nod, agreeing with the strong words of their friend. Neah sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

"I think you kids should go home. It doesn't look like he's going to come out any time soon and your parents are probably worried." Neah says, standing up to stretch his legs. "If anything happens, I'll call you, so don't worry." He adds, stopping any protests from them.

"Before we go, you should know something, Tyki." Lavi stands up with the other two and looks towards Tyki. "When we came over here yesterday, two Army guys came over. They asked Kira some questions then left. I'm not sure of what, but I'm guessing it has to do with Cross." Tyki nods his head with his best poker face on, not wanting to show any of his worried emotions in front of them. "Just thought you should know, since it's your house. We'll see you later, I guess." The three friends leave with a heavy feeling in their stomachs, deeply worrying about their smaller friend.

"God damn it!" Tyki mutters to himself, stalking down the hallway and into his office. Neah follows, his expression getting more worried by the second, seeing Tyki freak out. "How long are those fuckers going to bug me?" He shuffles through some of the desk drawers until he finds a thick manila folder.

"Tyki, what's wrong? Is it about those Army guys Lavi told you about?" Neah waits by the doorframe, not wanting to get in the way of his friend's searching.

"Yes, I thought I got those guys off my back years ago, but they apparently found me." Tyki grits out through clenched teeth. Sorting through the papers, he pulls out a few with an accomplished sound. "I just don't want these people digging through my past and if they are who I think they are, then I need to make some calls to some old friends who owe me favors." Neah nods his head and walks away after a moment of watching Tyki go through some papers and reach for his cell phone. Not knowing what to do with himself, he goes to the end of the hallway and pulls on a cord coming out from the ceiling, revealing fold out stairs that lead to the attic. He goes up the stairs and closes the door, not wanting anyone to get hurt by it from downstairs.

"It's been too long…" He stares at the white piano in front of him with a small smile on his face. This piano has always been apart of his family and he had Tyki take care of it a few years back since he kept moving and he didn't want to have to worry about it. Swiping his fingers along the keys as he walks, he takes in the fact that there isn't a speck of dust on it, showing that Tyki had kept his word about taking care of it. Neah sits on the bench and starts playing a soft, happy melody. He always started with this song, and then moved on to songs that were more befitting to his mood. He closes his eyes, still playing on the black keys, and just lets himself feel the music coursing through his body.

Allen keeps his forehead on the lip of the toilet seat, relishing on the coolness it brought to his heated body. Feeling his stomach churn again, he lifts his head enough so that the vomit can go into the bowl and not on it. Feeling stray tears falling, he just lets them drip off of his cheeks and chin, not having enough energy to bring his hands up from the toilet to wipe at them. After actually registering the memories he got back, he saw one that was just disgusting. He ran to the bathroom just in time to empty his stomach.

"Oh God…" For all these years, he had no clue what had happened to him while he was with the Earl and now, he knew _everything._ He remembers how he got every little scar marring his body, the people he saw, and how much he fought back during the whole time he was there. Some of these memories are just too much, making him throw-up in the toilet again, leaving a burning feeling in his throat. After a while, there isn't anything left in his stomach and he's just dry-heaving now. Allen pulls away from the toilet and leans on the wall next to it, catching his breath. Standing up, he wipes his mouth on his sleeve and goes to the shower, turning it up all the way. The steam fills the bathroom and he strips out of his clothes before standing in the tub, not really feeling the burning sensation from the hot water.

"He's taking a shower…?" Neah asks himself, his hands floating above the keys, not playing anything. He had heard the pipes creaking and the run of water, signaling that someone started the shower, and he's right above Allen's room if he remembers correctly. His thoughts wander again to his nephew and he shakes his head, not wanting to go to the depressing ideas of what happened to Allen right now. Moving his hands more fervently now, he plays a low, sad-sounding song, yet it still makes him feel calmer from everything that's going on. He's very glad that Tyki had gotten the attic sound-proofed just for him, so he doesn't have to worry about disturbing Tyki as he works in his office.

"I hope he's okay…" Lenalee says as Kanda pulls up to her driveway, "Are you sure that it was a good idea to just leave him there?"

"He's going to be fine. When he wants to talk, he'll call us." Kanda reassures her, but she still has a heavy feeling in her stomach. She bites on her bottom lip and nods her head, showing that she had heard Kanda. He sighs and gets out of the car, walking to the other side and opening her door. Lavi gets out and gets the key from Lenalee, unlocking the front door. The all enter the house and Lavi hands Lenalee her key back.

"Nii-san, what are you doing here?" Lenalee asks her brother sitting on the couch with his coffee mug. Komui looks up at her with a small smile on his face.

"Hi to you too." The two boys nod their heads as a greeting, kind of surprised that Komui hasn't jumped up in joy at the sight of his sister, especially with that sister-complex he has. "Could you sit down for a while? I have some questions I need to ask." Lavi and Kanda share a look before slowly going to the couch adjacent to Komui's seat. Lenalee and Kanda sit on the couch whereas Lavi just leans on the wall behind it.

"What is this about Nii-san? You're worrying me." Komui lets out another smile and shakes his head slightly.

"It's about Allen." He takes another sip from his mug before setting on the coffee table in front of him. "The other day in school, he got into a fight in the art class. He said he was defending himself and I believe him!" He quickly said when his lovely Lenalee was about to interrupt, "It's just, after we got everything settled, I had tried calling Cross and I couldn't reach him." The three go stiff, but Komui doesn't notice it, "I tried again a few hours later and still no answer. I even went to his house and he wasn't there, neither was Allen." He lets out a big sigh before looking at the teens in front of him. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"It's just… It's not really our place to tell you…" Lenalee answers after a long moment of silence, "Sorry, Nii-san…" Komui rubs at his head and closes his eyes, trying to delay the headache coming on.

"I have to know what's going on, Lenalee. Cross made it my duty to watch over Allen during school and if I can't contact him, I have to call the police." All of the teen's eyes go wide and before any of them say something, Komui interrupts again, "I can't help it, I'm sorry. It's the rules. Now, you have to tell me _something_ about where Cross is, or then I have to get the police involved."

"We can't tell you, but Moyashi can." Kanda says, saving Lenalee from having to answer. "Not right now, but when he's ready he can tell you. That's the best we can do, Komui." Komui looks slightly shocked that it was Kanda giving him an answer, but he quickly got over it.

"Fine, but how can I ask him if I don't even know where he is? Is he even going to school anymore?" Komui runs a hand through his hair, his beret in the other room where he left it.

"I think he still is, but he won't be back for a while. Allen's going through some… stuff right now." Lavi's words were slow and careful, not wanting to give Komui any information that he didn't need to know right now. Komui lets out another sigh and covers his eyes with a hand.

"Fine, that's fine…" He glances at the three very trouble-looking teens in front of him and notices that Lenalee has black smudges around her eyes. "Were you crying…?"

"Oh! Um, yeah," Lenalee rubs at the sides of her eyes, trying to get the smudged makeup off, "I forgot about that, my makeup probably looks horrible right now. It was from earlier, when were with Allen."

"I'm guessing that you're not going to tell me anything about that either, are you?" She shakes her head and he lets out a small laugh. "I thought so…" He stands up and brings his coffee mug into the kitchen, rinsing it out in the sink. Lenalee comes in a moment later and hugs him.

"I'm sorry Nii-san, but I really can't tell you anything. I would be going against Allen if I did." Komui smiles and hugs her back, stroking her hair slightly.

"I know. It's just going to be a pain dealing with Klaud tomorrow since she won't be seeing Allen for a while. She's really worried for him, you know." She nods her head, not really listening to Komui and pulls away after a moment. "It's still early, you want to go do something? Kanda and Lavi can come if they want."

"Sure Nii-san, what do you want to do?" They walk back into the living room and Kanda stands up, having heard everything from the couch.

"Well, we could go to that Japanese restaurant that just opened. Does that sound good?" The three agree and Lenalee goes to her bathroom really quick to fix her makeup before leaving with her brother and two friends. They leave in Komui's car to the restaurant and the mood has lightened up quite a bit, but the three friends couldn't get rid of the heavy feeling in their stomachs, no matter how many times they smiled for everyone else.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**Okay, once again, I'm so sorry that this is late! I meant to start this on Friday, but I was in Pennsylvania the whole day with no internet. On Saturday I started some of the chapter, but I had a major writer's block, so I was like 'fuck this.' On Sunday, I had a pretty good flow going, but then my Mom and brother got into a fight (right in front of me and my sister) and I wasn't in the mood to write anymore after seeing my mom be brought close to tears. Monday and Tuesday, I was busy with school and FINALLY, today (Wednesday) I didn't go to school and I got this chapter finished. Sorry again for all those people who wanted this on Sunday and not in the middle of the week… Anyway, Review please to tell me how I'm doing~!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Allen, you want something to eat…?" Neah knocks on the locked door, waiting for a response. A quiet 'no' comes from the other side and Neah sighs. "You have to eat something, Allen. You've been in there for days, you're starving yourself…" Silence came over and Neah just shook his head and turned away to start walking down the hall.

"Fine." Neah stops in his tracks and looks back at the closed door with wide eyes. The voice was more clear and louder than before, showing that Allen was closer to the door. "Just make sure it's something easy to eat, please." A big smile grows on Neah's face and with a 'sure!' he runs down the hall, into the kitchen. He almost bumps into Tyki, but side-steps him quick enough to evade any contact.

"What's the rush?" Tyki walks into the kitchen at a much calmer pace and watches as Neah looks through the cabinets.

"I'm making food for Allen. I finally convinced him to eat something. Where do you keep your soup?" Tyki points to a cabinet in the far left corner of the kitchen and Neah opens it, revealing cans of all different sizes and colours. "Thanks." Tyki just watches Neah happily take out a pot and heat up the soup from his cabinet before putting some in a bowl and onto a tray he finds to the side. Neah places a spoon and napkin on the tray and carries it down the hall to Allen's room. He knocks on the door and calls out Allen's name. There's silence for a moment, then he hears shuffling behind the wood.

"Leave it on the floor, please. I'll get it in a moment." Allen says, looking down at the shadows coming from under the door. He hears the slight clattering of the dishes and waits until Neah's shadow leaves his sight before opening the door just enough to drag the tray in. He locks the door again and looks at the tray of food in front of him. 'I didn't want to eat anything because I haven't been able to keep anything down…' He had a stash of small foods under his bed and, after he had first gotten hungry, he tried some, only to puke it out a few hours later. Timcanpy flies up to the tray and nudges the bowl slightly, saying for him to at least try it.

"Did you get to see him?" Tyki lowers his book and watches Neah plop down onto the couch.

"No, he told me to leave the tray by the door…" Tyki nods his head and stares at him for a moment longer before going back to his book. Neah lets out a sigh and closes his head, letting it rest on the back of the couch. A few hours later, Neah walks down the hallway and almost trips on the food tray in the middle of the hall. The bowl is empty and there's a slip of paper under it. He picks up the tray and lifts the bowl to see the words 'thank you' written on it. He smiles fondly and silently brings the tray to the kitchen to clean it. After getting everything wiped up, he goes back down the hall and enters Tyki's office. He sees Tyki passed out on the couch with an open book laid on his chest. He grabs the blanket off the back of the couch and lays it over him before retiring to his room for the night.

"I'm going to go crazy in here, Timcanpy…" Allen mumbles to his friend, petting his wings. The food had actually stayed down, thank God, and Allen managed to stay away from his horrible memories for the most part. He's not sure if he would do any better outside, but being in this room for so long reminds him too much of when he was with the Earl and he wanted to get some fresh air. Tim flies up and under the bed, pulling a bag strap out from under, but the weight to heavy for him to bring it fully out. Allen helps him and pulls the bag up onto the bag and opens it.

"I remember these…" He pulls out a black-haired wig and tries to flatten the mussed hair with his hand. "I wore these whenever I had to hide myself when I traveled with… Cross." He has some difficulty saying his name and he could feel a burning feeling in his eyes, willing him to cry, but the tears don't fall. "I guess I could wear them so I could go out… Good idea Tim." He pats the golden ball and Tim flaps his wings in response. Allen stands up on wobbly feet and drags the bag into the bathroom with him, Tim following close behind. He places the wig on the mannequin head (found it in the bag) and brushes it out, making sure that there are no bald spots in it and getting the knots out. He pulls out a make-up kit and opens it up on the sink, making sure he has the appropriate brushes and sponges along with it. An hour later, 2 in the morning to be exact, Allen finishes smoothing down the dark hair of the wig that is now on his head, covering all of his stark-white hair. He also put on some contacts he found in the bottom of the bag, making his eyes a baby blue shade.

"Let's go, Tim." The golem flies into the sleeve of Allen's black dress shirt and he looks at himself one last time in the mirror before leaving the bathroom. His scar is gone and his hair looks like it's real, so he did a good job. He cracks open his door and peeks out to the rest of the house. After a moment to make sure no one else is awake, he slips through the door and slowly closes the door. He makes it to the front door without any problem and unlocks the door slowly, wincing at the clicking sound before leaving the house. He decides to lock the door after a moment of thought; he'll be able to get into it later, anyway.

"It's Friday, just chill! It's not like we have to get up early or anything!" Lavi yells, still walking down the sidewalk they were currently on.

"Yes, but I don't want to deal with you getting drunk again and having a tantrum when I try to get you to leave." Lenalee groans out from beside Kanda who looks like he's trying to kill Lavi with his glare only.

"Fine, I won't drink tonight. Better?" Lavi stops walking and looks back at the couple behind him.

"Much, thank you." Lenalee smiles, very happy with the situation and Lavi rolls his eyes once he turned back around and started walking again. They stop in front of a bar where a lot of people seem to be crowding around one table and causing a lot of noise. Lavi stares through the window, trying to see what was causing all of this commotion. He sees a guy leaving through the doors and goes up to him.

"Excuse me, but what exactly is going on in there?" The guy looks kinda pissed and Lavi hopes that he isn't someone who would lash out on anyone who he comes across just for the Hell of it.

"Some punk in there is winning every single game of poker. Little brat's cheatin' somehow, but no one can catch him." Lavi nods and thanks the guy before running back to his two friends looking at him with curious eyes.

"He said that some kid is winning every poker game, wanna check it out?" He points back to the bar with a smile on his face and they look at him like he was crazy. "You don't have to worry about getting caught; as long as you just stay with me, then you'll be fine."

"How are we going to be fine by staying with you? I'm sorry, but I think Kanda's a more convincing 21 year-old than you, Lavi." He looks annoyed by this, but only for a second.

"Well, being a Bookman apprentice has its advantages. I know some dirt on the owner of this place, so if he wants to kick us out, he'll have to deal with the whole town knowing about his three other families." Lenalee shakes her head, too used to Lavi knowing too much for his own good and gives in to his request, dragging Kanda along into the smoke-filled bar. They push through the crowd of big, heavy-set men and finally make it to the front where they could see four men on one side of the table and a small, brown-haired kid on the other, all with cards in their hands. The kid lays his cards, face up, on the table and he has a small, innocent smile that Lavi feels like he's seen somewhere.

"Full House." His voice is so heavy with an accent and you can tell he's from the U.K. (*I don't know how you exactly write out an accent, so just imagine it, okay?*). The three men groan and toss down their cards as the kid pulls the winnings towards himself.

"Wow." Lenalee gasps out as the boy puts all of the bills in his pocket with gloved hands, leaving the change, "How did a kid that young win all that?" The kid bows before taking his leave out of the bar with that smile never leaving his face. "Come on!" Lenalee rushes through the crowd again, breathing in deeply once outside in the fresh air before quickly looking around for the kid.

"There he is." Lavi points down the street where the kid is casually walking with his hands in his black denim pants. "Hey kid!" He yells as the three run up to him, trying to catch up. The 'kid' stops and looks back at the three teens rushing up to him, his heart skipping a beat.

'…Shit…' Allen thinks as his friends run up to him, stopping a few feet away. 'God, please don't notice me.' "Yes?" He makes sure his accent shows as much as it can, not wanting to give his identity away and having to deal with people right now. He only started playing poker because it helps calm him and he feels so great whenever he wins a hand, no feeling in the world can replace it. 'I sound like an addict…'

"Hey, how'd you do that? Win all those games, I mean." Lavi asks, not really sure how to start the conversation; he's not even sure why they're following this guy in the first place. Allen shrugs, and starts fiddling with the silver cross necklace around his neck out of habit.

"I just play it. It's not that hard when you've been playing as long as I have. May I ask who it is I am talking to?" He gestures towards the three with his hand, covered in a black leather glove.

"Oh, sure! I'm Lavi, this is Lenalee, and he's Kanda." Lavi pointed to each person as he introduced them and Allen's slightly surprised that he didn't call Kanda 'Yu.'

"Nice to meet you, I'm Zachary." He bows again, a greeting he saw all the time when he was in London, as a replacement of shaking their hands. He found that when he got out of the house, he was afraid of other people touching him. He kept avoiding people by walking across the street or just straight-out ignoring them.

"Well, Zachary~, you're definitely not from here. Did you come from across the pond?" Lavi asks casually, taking a few steps forward and Allen taking one back.

"Yes, I did, London to be specific. Anything I could help you with, or is this just for your amusement?" Allen crosses his arms and looks at Lavi with amused eyes.

"We just wanted to know how you won all that money in poker. We asked someone on their way out of the bar and he said that you were cheating, is that true?" Lenalee asks, stepping up next to Lavi.

"Well, to be fair, the gents started cheating first. I was going to play fair, but they started it. I was merely giving them a taste of their own medicine." Allen finishes and he glances back at the bar entrance where the big men he played against come through, looking like they wanted to hurt someone. "It was nice meeting you three, but I'm afraid I have to run. Cheerio!" He turns the opposite direction and fast walks down the sidewalk, further into the darkness and away from the three angry men.

"Hey, wait!" Lavi starts running, Kanda and Lenalee following his lead, to catch up with the surprisingly fast kid. He glances behind them and notices the guys Zachary beat in the poker game. 'So that's why he ran.' Zach dashes around a corner and the three teens follow, stopping around the wall where he stopped to let the men run past them.

"There you are." Only two of the men come up behind them, they probably split up to cover more ground. "Now, we want our money back, brat."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do anything for you. You chaps started cheating first, I only followed your lead." Allen calls out from behind the three teens and looks behind him onto the open road. He steps away from the opening of the alley they hid in just as the other two men come up on that side. Allen leans against the brick wall, giving him a calm demeanor, but on the inside he's freaking out. 'Crap, how am I going to get out of this, especially with them here?' He glances at his three friends who look kind of panicked, save for Kanda, 'How am I going to do this without risking them getting hurt?'

"Whatever, we still want our money back! Now, give it back, or are you looking to get hurt?" One of the guys that just arrived yelled out, him looking the most pissed off. One of the guys lunge forward and try to grab Allen, but he steps back, evading his hands. Allen's starting to get panicked himself; he doesn't know what these four men will do to him once they have a hold of him. He forgot about the other two men behind him and his arms get grabbed once the guy has him backed up far enough.

"L-Let go!" Allen struggles in his hold and he tightens it, bringing his arms together behind him. Allen gasps in pain and goes down on his knees. "G-Get off…!" The memories are starting to resurface and tears prick the sides of his eyes.

"Hey, let go of him!" Lavi yells out, taking a few steps closer to the two men who have Zach restrained. Kanda unsheathes his sword and faces the other two men, daring them to come forward. Lavi looks around and sees an aluminum bat leaning against the wall in front of a window full of stickers and small paintings. "This'll have to work, sorry kid." He silently apologizes to the random kid he's stealing this from and grabs the bat before taking his spot again behind the two men restraining Zach who looks close to tears.

"Ah!" Allen yells out when his arms are pulled upwards, his hands now reaching the back of his neck. A few tears run down his eyes and the scene in front of him starts to fade into something different. The men turn into fuzzy images of the Akuma and the alley fade into the room he was kept in when he was with the Earl. "P-Please! Let m-me go!"

"You heard him, let loose!" Lavi yells at the man holding Zach, holding the bat in a threatening position. The man looks at his partner and nods towards Lavi. Lavi swings his bat as the guy comes close to him and hits him in the knee, making him fall to the ground. He smashes the end of it against his head, knocking him out. He knows that he'll just wake up with a concussion and a really bad headache, but the others don't. The other one looks kind of startled that his friend went down that easily. Lavi is reminded of when Allen had to deal with those debt-collectors at his house, the situation somewhat similar to then.

"Yeah, you better run!" Kanda yells out as the two men he was against dashed down the sidewalk. As Lavi dealt with the one over there, the two had tried to get past him. He ended up cutting both of them on their arms as they tried to hit him, and they just ran like the cowards they are when they saw their friend fall to the ground. They all face the last guy, still holding Zach who looks scared and is closing his eyes at tight as they will go. The man looks kind of worried that the other three were gone and forces Zach back up to his feet.

"Bastard Akuma! Let me go!" Allen yells, still stuck in his memories. He doesn't even notice that he forgot his accent, making his three friends freeze in their actions. Allen takes advantage of the man's confused state and kicks behind himself, successfully hitting the man behind him. The guy groans and loosens his hold, Allen notices this and pulls away from him. He stumbles a bit and starts running away from the alley with tears streaming down his face.

"Wait, Allen!" Lenalee calls out, starting to run after the fading form of her friend. Kanda follows after and so does Lavi, all with wide eyes that the person they were talking to was _Allen._

"Allen, where are you?" Lavi calls out once they stop at a corner, having lost track of where their smaller friend went to.

"Lenalee and I will go right, you go left." Kanda says to Lavi and he nods his head before rushing down the street, glancing back at Lenalee and Kanda going down the opposite one, looking down alleys. He slows his steps a little and listens for any sign of life; his eye observing everything around him, looking for something to signal that Allen's been through this way.

"God damn it… Allen! Where are you?" He yells out, narrowing his eye to see down a dark alley better. He almost passes it, but stops in his tracks when he sees a shimmer of gold before it disappeared behind a dumpster. He slowly steps into the alleyway, trying not to make too much sound. "Allen…?" He shuffles closer to the dumpster, seeing more flashes of gold and realizing that it was Timcanpy. He walks a bit faster and stops when he can see the other side of the dumpster clearly. Allen is curled up against the dumpster with his knees curled up and his head hidden between them. He's clutching a black wig in his hand and the other is smudged with concealer.

Timcanpy pulls on Allen's sleeve before flying up and around Lavi head, landing on his shoulder. Allen doesn't move, still curled up, trying to hide himself from everything. "Allen… It's okay. It's Lavi, your friend…?" He kneels down and reaches out to Allen, only to have him shuffle more into the wall, trying to melt into it. His heart breaks at the sight of his friend so scared of him. Gramps always warned him to not get too close to people, but Lavi never really listened to him to begin with, did he? "Allen, look at me." He reaches out again and lays his hand on top of his head, ignoring the small flinch that came from his body. "Please look at me. No one's going to hurt you, Allen. They're just memories." Shakily, Allen looks up at Lavi with wide eyes, tears still falling silently. His scar is showing now, but has some make-up still smudged in it.

"L-Lavi…?" Allen quietly asks and he smiles his infamous shit-eating grin, happy that Allen recognized him.

"Yeah, it's me Allen. You're okay now." Allen slowly uncurls from his little ball and reaches out to Lavi. He grasps his sleeve and looks up at him, taking in his smile, his gleaming eye, everything about him; forcing the memories away and filling his mind with the here-and-now, filling it with Lavi. He suddenly hugs him, sending Lavi back onto his bottom. He wraps his arms around Allen with a big smile on his face.

"Oh God, Lavi… Lavi…" Allen kept repeating, so happy that he isn't afraid of Lavi's touch, not shying away from it like he wanted to do when that man had grabbed him. They stay like that for a moment until Allen pulls away and looks straight at Lavi's bright, green eye.

"Allen…?" Lavi silently asks, but he doesn't answer. Allen moves closer to Lavi and brushes their lips together with is eyes closed before pulling away again. He doesn't get very far until Lavi grabs the back of his head and pulls him into another kiss, this one sweet and full of love for the person receiving it. Lavi closes his eyes as well and they stay like that, not taking it any further or making it any less. Lavi's hold on his head is gentle, yet firm, giving Allen reassurance that he didn't even know he needed. When the need for air becomes known, they both pull back slightly, Lavi still holding Allen's head. Their foreheads touch and they both stare into each other's eyes. Lavi suddenly chuckles and let's go of Allen's head, letting his arm lay around Allen's waist. "How'd you get your eyes that colour?"

"Ah, I'm wearing contacts…" Allen quickly takes them out and just tosses them to the ground, not caring for them anymore. Lavi wipes at his left cheek with his sleeve, getting rid of the rest of the make-up to reveal his scar.

"How'd you get all this stuff?" He picks up the wig Allen dropped on the ground and observes it, even turning it upside-down to look on the inside.

"I've had it for years. When Cross and I would have to hide out for a while, we would wear disguises. They were like alter egos." Allen rubs at his arms, getting cold in the dark with only a dress shirt on. Lavi notices this and shrugs off his jacket, laying it on top of Allen's shoulders with a smile. "Am I your girlfriend now?" He laughs lightly and Lavi smiles.

"Only if you want to be." Allen smiles and blushes a little, dusting his cheeks a light pink colour. He nods his head and Lavi's grin grows. He leans down and kisses Allen again, just like before. Allen's arms go up to his chest and he grips the shirt in his hands before pulling back with his cheeks a darker shade now. He watches a white speck land on Lavi's cheek before it melts into a water droplet. He looks up and notices that it started snowing. "Wow, it's really early this year…" Lavi says looking up at the gray sky and watching the snow fall, progressively getting heavier. Lavi pulls out his phone and dials a number before putting it up to his ear.

"_Did you find him?" _Kanda's voice sounds irritated and out of breath.

"Yeah, he's right here. We'll meet you back at your car, okay?" He hears a sigh on the other side, one out of relief, and there's a pause where he could hear Kanda telling Lenalee something.

"_Yeah, we'll meet you there." _Kanda doesn't even bother saying goodbye, just hanging up on Lavi. He shakes his head and puts his phone back in his pocket before looking down at his now-lover.

"We have to go meet up with Lenalee and Yu. Can you walk?" Lavi adjusts himself so that he could stand up from the semi-uncomfortable position.

"I'm not sure…" Lavi grabs Allen's shaking hands and helps him stand, only to have him falling back down. Lavi catches him before he hits the ground and wraps an arm around his waist to support him. "I guess not." He chuckles out, trying to calm his frayed nerves, his hands shaking slightly.

"Here, get on my back. I'll carry you to the car." He gets on one knee and helps Allen onto his back before standing up straight. "Why are your hands shaking so badly? Is it because of the memories?"

"I don't know, probably. My hands do that sometimes, they'll just start shaking and my heart gets tight. I've always had that problem." Allen shrugs as he twists a little, trying to get used to being on Lavi's back.

"That doesn't sound too healthy, have you ever gotten that checked?" Lavi asks and he could feel Allen shaking his head 'no' on his shoulder where he laid his head.

"I've never told anyone, there was no real point to. I didn't see any real danger in it, so I kept it to myself." Allen mumbles, closing his eyes. He feels really tired, considering he hasn't gotten much sleep and this is the first time in about a week that he's felt content enough to close his eyes. Not having to worry about the memories plaguing his mind since he has Lavi to distract him. Timcanpy lands on Lavi's head, watching his master fall asleep for the first time in a few days.

"Well still, you should see a doctor about that." When he didn't get a response, he looks at his shoulder and sees that Allen had fallen asleep. He hears the light snoring of his smaller lover and smiles. He feels the heat radiating off of Allen and onto his back, keeping him warm even without his jacket. He gets to the car without any problems and got there a few minutes before Lenalee and Kanda. He took a shortcut he found so that he wouldn't have to go past the bar from earlier, not wanting to risk seeing the men again. He remembers back to the one he knocked out and wonders if he had woken up yet.

"Is he okay?" Lenalee asks looking over Allen's sleeping frame.

"Yeah, he's good. His nerves were so bad though, that he couldn't really walk." Lavi answers, shifting a little to adjust his grip on Allen, feeling him slip a little. "Yu, can you help me get him into the car?" Kanda growls something out along the lines of 'don't call me that,' but unlocks the car and helps place Allen's light body into the backseat. He gets into the driver seat as Lavi crawls in after Allen and Lenalee gets into the front seat. Lavi lays Allen on one side, letting his head rest on his lap, and lays his coat over his body. "Where should we take him?"

"I think Tyki's house. If Neah wakes up and sees that Allen isn't there, he'll probably freak." Lenalee says and Kanda nods, starting the car and driving off in the direction of Tyki's house. The rest of the car ride, Lenalee hands Lavi wipes so he could get the rest of the make-up off of his face. After he finished, Kanda pulled up to Tyki's driveway.

"I'll be back, you guys wait here." Lavi says while pulling Allen out of the car, leaving his coat in the car, and carrying him bridal style. He shuts the door with his hip, making sure not to do it too hard, and walks up to the front door. 'Please be unlocked…' He shifts Allen's weight so that he could hold him with one arm, Allen helping by wrapping his arms around Lavi's neck subconsciously. He tries the doorknob and thanks whatever God up there that it was unlocked. Lavi walks into the house after wiping his feet on the doormat and silently goes to Allen's room.

He notes that no one else is up and opens Allen's door the same way he did for the front door. Tim flies up from his spot on Lavi's shoulder and onto a pillow in the middle of the bed. Lavi places Allen right next to Tim and tosses the wig he was holding the whole time onto the dresser. He pulls off his shoes and tosses them to the side before removing his gloves and placing them next to the wig.

"Lavi…?" he looks up with wide eyes, not expecting him to be awake. He soon gets over the shock and smiles at Allen, pulling the covers up over him.

"Good night Allen, I'll see you later okay?" He kisses his forehead and tries to pull away, but Allen has a strong hold on his shirt. "Allen?"

"Can you… stay with me…? Just for tonight?" He looks up at Lavi with tired eyes and he sighs with a smile.

"Sure, I'll stay with you. But isn't Tyki going to be mad? I mean, I basically just broke into his house." Lavi says while taking off his own shoes and walking to the door to close and lock it. Allen nods his head when Lavi looks back at him and looks at him with pleading eyes. Lavi smile never fades and he walks towards the bed while pulling out his phone, texting Kanda to just go home since he was staying with Allen for tonight. He pulls off his headband, the one Allen made for him for Halloween, and lays it on top of Allen's gloves before climbing into the bed. He pulls the covers up and snuggles under them facing the ceiling. Allen takes Lavi's hand in his and lets his head rest on his shoulder.

"Thank you Lavi." He mumbles before closing his eyes and falling back to sleep almost instantly. Lavi smiles before turning on his side and pulling Allen into an embrace.

"You're welcome Allen." He sighs out, going to sleep moments later. A few hours later, Tyki groans and rolls over to get more comfortable, only to land on flat on his face on the ground.

"Oww that hurt…" He moans out, rubbing his nose while sitting up against the couch. "Right, I fell asleep in my office." He looks over where his book is laid over the covers that were on him a moment ago. He picks up the book and blanket, placing them both on the couch before standing up and stretching. "God, I really need a new couch…" He winces slightly at the cracks from stretching and brushes off invisible dust from his clothes, making sure they look at least presentable before he leaves the room. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, still feeling kind of tired after spending the past few days making sure his past is buried and hidden for the time being while the Army has their eye on Allen. "I wonder how he's doing...?"

"How who's doing?" Neah asks from his spot at the table, looking over the newspaper and placing his cup of coffee in front of him. Tyki looks startled for a second and he chuckles, earning a glare.

"I was talking about Allen. How are you always up before me?" Neah shrugs and goes back to reading the paper. Tyki shakes his head and gets his own cup before sitting down across from Neah.

"You want it?" He lifts up the paper slightly and Tyki shakes his head. He goes back to reading it, taking the occasional sip from his coffee.

"Have you talked to him this morning?" Tyki asks after a moment and Neah shakes his head.

"I knocked on his door this morning and all I heard was a groan and 'five more minutes.'" Tyki lets out a chuckle and stares at Neah who seems engrossed in the newspaper.

"How have you been? With all this, I mean." Neah sighs and lets the paper drop to the table. He looks at his drink before looking up at Tyki's worried eyes.

"Good, I guess. I would like to get him at least talking to someone, but we can't really do anything if he keeps his door locked all the time." He stares at the table in front of Tyki and runs a hand through his hair. "I was thinking of actually taking him to my house once he's comfortable enough."

"Really? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tyki asks seriously, not sure how he feels towards the idea.

"Well, I'm not going to be far. I own a place the street over and I was thinking of moving there to be closer, anyway. What do you think?" Neah takes a sip of his warm coffee and Tyki looks thoughtful.

"Yeah, I guess that's a good idea. He should be with family, but he can't be too far away from his friends, especially when his friends are like his second family." Tyki nods and smiles, finding it a great idea. Besides, it will be good for Allen to be with his Uncle, he'll finally get to be able to reconnect with him.

"Allen, are you hungry? I can go get something for you, if you want." Lavi asks quietly to Allen who's playing with Timcanpy on his lap.

"A little, but I can't really hold down food well. Though, Neah made soup for me the other day and that stayed down." Lavi nods his head and straightens his clothes a little before walking over to the door. "Um, Lavi?" He stops and looks back at Allen, his hand on the doorknob. "I'm coming with you." He stands up and walks up to Lavi and looks at the door. "I'm sure that Tyki and Neah are already up and it'll be kind of hard to explain why you're here, wouldn't it?" Lavi smiles and nods his head before opening the door and lets Allen through with Tim on his shoulder. Allen slowly makes his way to the kitchen where he could hear the two adults talking.

"Allen! You're out!" Neah exclaims, standing up and looking at him with wide eyes. Tyki twists in his seat to look behind himself and sees Allen standing there with a small smile on his face.

"Um, yeah… Actually, I brought someone over, if that's okay." Neah and Tyki look very confused and Allen pulls an awkward-looking Lavi into their view. "Before you ask, I'll explain everything, okay?" The two black-haired men nod and Neah takes his seat again, still looking at Allen and Lavi. Allen whispers something in Lavi's ear before he nods and enters the kitchen, giving the three some space and to start the soup for Allen. He sits in a chair in between Tyki and Neah and starts telling them everything he did starting from when he dressed up to when he came in this morning, leaving out the part where he and Lavi had kissed, of course. Lavi helped explain some things whenever Allen was not able to remember very clearly what happened.

"So, you brought over Lavi because he helped keep the memories at bay?" Neah simples down and Allen nods his head, pushing away the bowl Lavi had given him to eat, having finished it.

"Basically, yes." He says with a slight blush. Neah and Tyki notice this, but don't say anything about it. "Sorry if I had made you two worry about me…"

"It's fine, Allen, I'm just happy that you're out of the room and actually talking to us." Neah says with a smile playing on his lips. Allen nods his head, still feeling kind of guilty making them worry.

"So, what now?" Lavi asks after everyone had fallen into silence.

"I'm not sure. I guess we just keep doing what we've been doing so far and hope for the best." Tyki shrugs, leaning back in his seat and blowing out some smoke from the cigarette he lit while Allen was talking.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**Tyki did ask if it was okay to smoke, by the way. Just thought I should say that. I feel so proud of myself! I just updated Wednesday and I'm already updating on Saturday, it's great. And I'm already starting on the next chapter~ I also got a few lines for the lemon already written and saved for when the time comes. Funny thing is, I just had an urge to write part of the scene right in the middle of typing this, so I just started writing it on the same document. After I thought it was good enough, I copy and pasted it onto a new one and saved it in my computer for later~ Anyway, I'm so happy I got Allen with someone! My friend found this on here (so embarrassing O/O ) and said that she shipped Laven, so I did that for her~ And kinda for me too since I like Lavi and Allen together (I like Allen with anyone, really. like, prostitute!Allen). So, yeah, review please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I just watched Atlantis II-Milo's Return and it sucked… The first one was **_**way**_** better than the second. Anyway, I wanted to post this earlier, but I had a lot of family stuff going on… Whatever, enjoy the chapter~**

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

"Are you sure you want to go today? You could wait a little longer, you know." Neah tries to persuade Allen as he starts getting his backpack ready. Thanksgiving passed and Allen decided that he wanted to go back to school before Christmas break. Not for long, just for a few days so that he could catch up on what their learning and get the work he missed to do it over the break.

"You know I have to go Neah, if I don't I'll probably have to repeat the grade." He finishes getting his binders into his bag and zips it close. "Besides, I'll have my friends if I need help. Don't worry I'll be fine." He smiles at his uncle and slings his bag over his shoulder, shuffling past him and down the hall to leave. "I'll see you after school, bye!" He calls out before closing the front door behind him and rushing to Lavi's car parked in the driveway.

"Hey, you ready?" Lavi asks as Allen gets into the car and slides his seatbelt on.

"Yeah, let's-" Lavi pulls Allen's head towards his and gives him a quick kiss, interrupting him. He pulls back with a smile and starts the car before driving off onto the main road. "…go." Allen finishes with a slight blush.

"You still remember your combination?" Lavi sounds totally casual, as if he didn't just kiss him and Allen can't help but smile.

"Yeah, I still remember." They keep talking casually until they get to the school and Lavi pulls into a parking space, telling Allen to wait a moment.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Allen sighs and smiles at Lavi's worried expression.

"Yes, Lavi, I'm 100% sure I want to do this. Do you want me to repeat the school year?" He chuckles and opens the car door, getting out and slamming the door shut. Lavi gets out a second later with a smile on his face.

"Fine, but if you need anything, text me and I'll come running, okay?" Allen nods his head and checks his pocket for the phone his friends had given him. Apparently, they had planted it on him when Kira was out, and that was a little after Halloween. "Also, we should head to Komui's office. While you were locked up in your room, he talked to the three of us about you and Cross. You're gonna have to tell him something."

"Why are you telling me this now?" Allen panics, looking at Lavi with wide eyes. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He steps in front of the car, walking ahead of Lavi to the school entrance.

"I was going to, but you already had enough to deal with! Especially with wanting to go back to school!" He runs up to catch up with his boyfriend. "Are you mad?" Allen stops walking and sighs before looking up at Lavi.

"No, I'm not mad. I would've just liked a little warning that I was going to have to tell Komui everything that has been going on. No doubt that he'll want me to talk to the counselor." He starts walking again, at a slower pace this time, and Lavi can easily stay caught up.

"Yeah, sorry for not telling you earlier…" Allen mumbles an 'it's okay' and Lavi throws his arm over his smaller shoulders. "You want me to be there with you?"

"…If you don't mind…" Allen says and enters the school building with Lavi following him to the front office. Reever greets them and welcomes back Allen before going to the back to Komui's office.

"You nervous?" Allen nods his head slightly, looking down the hall of doors that Reever went down. "It's okay, it's just Komui."

"I know, but I have to tell him about Cross…" Reever comes back from the hall and tells them they can go in. They both get up from their seats and walk down the hall to Komui's office. Lavi knocks on the door and waits for a 'come in' before opening the door.

"Allen, it's great to see you again! Welcome back!" Komui welcomes them, standing from his desk. "Please, sit down." He gestures towards the couch in front of him and waits until they take a seat before sitting down again.

"Lavi told me that you wanted to talk about Cross…?" Allen starts, glancing nervously around the room.

"Yes, I just need you to answer a few questions as soon as Klaud gets here." Allen nods his head and not a moment later, Klaud comes walking in with a small monkey on her shoulder.

"Sorry about Lau Jimin, Komui. I didn't have time to drop by my office and drop him off." She comes in and takes a seat on a smaller couch in between Komui and the two teens. The small monkey, Lau Jimin, jumps off of her shoulder and onto Komui's desk, taking a seat on the corner closest to Allen. "Hi, boys, how are you?"

"We're good, Klaud." Lavi responds with a grin and she nods with her own small smile.

"Okay, let's get started." Komui shuffles some papers before looking through them. "Allen, I'm going to ask some questions and I need you to answer them honestly, okay?" Allen nod his head and Komui continues, "Good, now then. Do you know where Cross is?" Allen doesn't answer for a moment, but finally says 'yes, I guess.' "Okay, can you tell me how I can contact him?"

"Y-You can't." Allen rubs at his eye to force the tears away, "He's d-dead…" Komui and Klaud stare at him with wide eyes and Komui just opens and closes his mouth, thinking of what he could say to that.

"Are you sure?" Klaud's the one to voice the question and Allen takes in a breath.

"N-Not really, but I saw his b-blood and he left his g-gun… A-And he would never leave w-without telling me!" A few tears fall from his cheeks and Allen quickly wipes them away.

"Wh… Where have you been staying?" Komui asks, trying to get this information wrapped around his head.

"A friend of Cross' has been kind enough to let Allen stay there until he figures out what to do next." Lavi answers for his smaller lover, since he can't really do anything else to help him. Allen nods his head and stares at the ground. "You might know him, his name is Tyki?"

"Tyki? As in, Tyki Mikk?" Lavi nods his head, "Yes, I do believe I have met him once or twice. He helped Cross make those golems, if I remember correctly." Komui lets out a breath and looks at Allen worriedly. "Why didn't you call the police when you found his blood?"

"I can't call the police." Allen groans out, placing his elbows on his knees, still looking down. "If I did, then _he'll_ find me!"

"Do you mean _the Earl_…?" Klaud asks and Komui looks at her with wide eyes before turning back to Allen. Allen nods his head, not moving from his position and Lavi lightly rubs his back.

"The Earl kidnapped me when I was little and Cross saved me from him. Ever since then, we've been hiding from anything that could lead him to me." Allen mumbles and if they weren't listening for it, Klaud and Komui would've missed it. "Tyki actually used to be with him, but once he realized what exactly he was doing, he left too. Same thing for my uncle, Neah."

"Neah's _your _uncle?" Klaud gasps out. Allen looks up at her confused before nodding, "Neah's the one that helped some of the Noahs realize what the Earl's doing is wrong by fighting back." She clarified for Komui.

"How do you know that?" Allen asks, wondering how she knew all that about his uncle.

"We're part of the Army; we try to know everything we can about our enemy, the Earl." Allen nods his head and looks towards the small monkey on the desk that has been staring at him this whole time.

"Is that a Capuchin?" He asks, pointing to the small mammal that makes a small chatter sound in response.

"He's a mix; I'm not entirely sure of what he is." Klaud answers, slightly amused at the change in Allen's mood. It went from a sullen attitude to the one of a curious child so quickly.

"Does he bite?" Allen clicks his tongue, making the monkey jump down from the desk and carefully walk up to him.

"Only if he doesn't like you." Allen keeps his hand down to let Lau Jimin sniff it before he climbs up onto his arm, moving to his lap, "And I guess he likes you." She says with a smile as the white-haired teen plays with Lau Jimin. "Just don't touch his tail, or then he'll definitely hurt you."

Allen nods his head, not really listening. He scratches at his puffy cheeks and pets his body, "I used to take care of monkeys, you know."

"Yes, you file says that you used to work in a circus with your adoptive father." Komui says with a smile on his face, glad that a kid who went through so much can still act like nothing was wrong in the world. Lavi reaches out to the small monkey and lets it smell his hand. Lau Jimin smells it before jumping onto Lavi's shoulder, causing him to let out a small yelp of surprise. Allen laughs and looks up at the small monkey.

"How'd you get him?" Allen asks, letting him play with a few strands of his hair from Lavi's shoulder.

"Since I'm with the Army, I used to travel a lot and I found him in a smuggler's house. We were just there because he was selling illegal weapons, but he was also keeping endangered animals with him in cages. I brought Lau Jimin back and since I have experience with wild animals, they let me keep him since they said that he was just a mix of a bunch of non-endangered monkeys." Lau Jimin goes back onto Allen's shoulders, looking down the back of his shirt.

"Ah!" Allen yelps when Lau pushed his small arm down his shirt, getting almost half his body down there, pulling something out and observing it in his hands.

"Lau Jimin!" Klaud yells, more out of surprise then anger. The small monkey looks at her before rushing to her side, still holding something in his hands. "Let go." She orders, holding out her palm. He puts his smaller hands above hers and lets go of the object. A small golden ball falls and slightly rolls around before it stretches out feathery wings and looks at the monkey like it was mad.

"Timcanpy! I told you not to follow me to school!" Allen calls out and the little golem immediately flies back to Allen's hand. Lau Jimin follows it, obviously interested in the small object. He watches from Lavi's feet as Allen chastises Tim for hiding in his shirt.

"I thought Cross got rid of that old golem years ago." Klaud says, calling for Lau Jimin to come back. He goes up to her shoulder, but keeps his eyes on the small golden ball.

"Is that all you needed to know Komui?" Lavi asks, still watching Allen and Timcanpy.

"Yeah, that's it for now. Allen, can you give me Tyki's number? I need someone in your file that I can contact in case of an emergency." He nods his head and calls out the number after pulling it up from his phone. Komui writes it down and thanks him before dismissing the two boys with passes for their classes. Klaud leaves with the boys, making sure that Lau doesn't try to reach for Allen's golem on the way out.

"Lavi, you go ahead. I need to talk to Allen for a moment." Klaud says, closing the door to Komui's office.

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you in 2nd period, Allen." He gives him a quick hug then leaves the main office, not really in a hurry to get to his first class.

"Allen, I want to have some sessions with you, if that's okay." She places her hand on his shoulder and Allen flinches, still not used to people touching him unless it was Lavi. She pulls her hand when she notices this and frowns.

"Yes, that's fine." He says with a small smile, dismissing anything she was about to say. "Ho often would it be?"

"I was thinking about twice a week, more if need be." Allen nods and Klaud sighs. "I really want to help you Allen. You are going through so much at a young age and I can't even imagine what happened to you during your time with the Earl. If you don't talk about it, then it will get worse and harder to hold in."

"I understand Klaud. Thank you." He smiles and Klaud lets him go to his class after telling him that they'll start tomorrow. Tim snuggles into his sleeve and stays there while Allen walks up the stairs to get to art class. He opens the door and slips in, thankful that everybody's already working and isn't paying much attention to him. He walks up to the desk where he sees Tiedoll looking through some papers and writing on some of them. "Excuse me, Tiedoll?" He looks up at Allen and smiles.

"Allen! Welcome back! We haven't seen you for awhile." Handing him the pass, he continued to talk with Tiedoll for a little before he went to the back of the class where Lenalee was waving him over.

"Hey Allen! I'm so glad that you decided to come back." She smiles and pats the seat next to her, telling him to sit down. "Did you already talk to Nii-san?"

"Yeah, and Klaud. I'm going to start having sessions with her tomorrow, twice a week. What are we doing in class?" Lenalee explains to Allen the assignment and gave him the papers for it. The rest of the class, Allen stayed with Lenalee and finished the project they were doing. On his way to civics, he notices that people keep staring at him and whispering while pointing towards him. He knew that they would start talking about him since he just came back to school after so long. Allen goes to his classes, avoiding being touched successfully, and he got excused from gym, courtesy of Komui. By the end of the day, his backpack is full of school assignments he missed over his absence. 'Well, at least I'm getting caught up…'

"Hey Allen~!" Lavi yells, running up to Allen closing his locker and locking it. "You ready to roll?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." He slings his bag over his shoulder and follows Lavi out of the school. He grabs onto Lavi's hand and lets himself be pulled through the moving crowd of teenagers trying to get home. Finally, they reach the parking lot and Lavi looks back at Allen with a smile.

"You okay?" Lavi unlocks his car and tosses their bags in the back before going to the passenger side.

"Yeah, just a bit nervous, but it'll go away soon." Lavi opens Allen's door and he pouts while sliding into the seat, letting him shut the door. Lavi runs to the other side and gets into the driver seat, starting the car. "I can open my own door, you know."

"I know." Lavi smiles and drives out of the parking lot, being careful of the walking students. "Hey, I have to stop at the public library for a minute, is it okay if I drag you along?"

"That's fine. What do you need to do?" Allen pulls Tim out from his pocket and turns him on. Tim kept flying off during third period, so he had to turn him off.

"Panda wants me to pick up a few books he put on reserve. They're in the restricted section, so it might take a while." Lavi turns onto a smaller street before reaching a parking lot and finding a space. He pulls the keys out of the ignition and hops out of the car. Allen follows him into the library and lets him go into the back with a worker before wandering around the shelves. He stops at a shelf and picks up a random book. Not even looking at the cover, he opens to the first page and starts reading.

"What are you reading?" Allen jumps slightly and clutches the book to his chest, stopping it from dropping it to the floor. He looks to his right where a tall, brown-haired guy is standing. "Haha, sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"Ah, it's okay." He smiles, albeit a little nervously, and loosens his grip on the book. "Um, I don't even know. I just picked it up…" He glances at the cover and pulls a face.

"_How to Make Love While Conscious_, eh?" Allen blushes and quickly sets the book back in its spot. "I didn't know they had books like that…" He chuckles and looks at Allen's flushed face with a big grin. "So, what's your name?"

"Allen." He smiles and takes a small step back, noticing how close the other was. "W-What's yours?"

"It's Damian. Nice tattoo." He brushes a few strands of hair away from Allen's left cheek causing him to stumble back. "Aw, what's the matter?" Damian steps forward and Allen goes back until he hits the shelf, causing it to slightly shake.

"Um, I-I have to g-go…" He tries slinking past Damian, but he puts his arms up on either side of Allen. He pushes on his chest with a slight panicked expression, "Please…!" He whispers, remembering that they were in a library.

"What was that? Asking for more, eh?" Damian licks his lips and goes down to bite his neck, sucking it afterwards.

"G-Get off!" He says a little louder than before, his mind starting to get hazy. Allen closes his eyes and tries to will away the memories, but not getting very far with Damian provoking them like this. Damian moves across Allen's neck and grabs his hip with one hand, the other supporting him on the bookshelf. Allen pushes harder on Damian's chest, hating how weak he is when the memories resurface, clouding his mind.

"Allen!" Lavi yells, racing forward to the spot in front of the bookshelf. He pulls Damian off and pushes him away, stepping on front of Allen. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Whoa, sorry, man. I didn't know he was taken; just tryin' to have some fun, eh?" He puts his arms up in a defenseless manner and Lavi frowns.

"Get the Hell out of here before I kick your ass." He growls out, making sure that the bastard doesn't get to even see Allen by stepping in front of him entirely. Damian shrugs and starts walking away, ignoring the few stares he got. "Allen, are you okay?" Lavi turns around and finally looks at his trembling boyfriend. He looks around notices that people are starting to stare at them, "Come on, let's go." He ushers his smaller friend towards the back exit after grabbing the bag full of books he left on the ground before getting Damian away from Allen.

They leave through the door, attracting some attention, but at least they didn't get the library security called on them for being loud. As soon as he gets Allen outside, he breaks down and starts sobbing. Lavi looks shocked for a second before hugging Allen tightly, not really sure of what else he could do. This seems to be enough for Allen, though, because his cries get softer after a while and he's reduced to hiccupping and sniffling, some tears still falling from his eyes. Allen holds onto Lavi's coat as tight as he can, trying to clear his head and get back to reality.

"Allen… What did he do?" Lavi asks once Allen gains control of his voice again. Allen takes in a shuddering breath and shakes his head.

"H-He didn't do a-anything… It was the m-memories that g-got to m-me…" He buries his head in Lavi's chest, taking deep breathes to calm himself and to stop his hands from shaking so badly.

"What he did triggered the memories…?" Lavi mumbles to himself, knowing that Allen couldn't hear him. His eyes go wide after a moment and he looks down at the top of Allen's head. "Allen…?" Lavi asks and waits for Allen to make a small noise, showing that he had heard Lavi's unusually quiet voice, "What… were the memories of?" Allen stiffens in Lavi's arms and his breathe hitches in his throat.

"I-I don't want t-to say…" Allen whispers, feeling hot tears roll down his cheeks again.

"Please Allen, I want to help you. I can't do that if you hold it in all the time, just saying your fine when I can obviously see that you're hurting. Please…" Lavi sees some people pass by, giving them weird looks, and pulls away from Allen. "Come on, let's get to the car, then you can tell me." He doesn't wait for an answer and drags Allen to his car, holding his hand the whole time. He puts the bag of books in the back before getting Allen into the car. After getting in himself and turning on the car to heat it up, he looks towards his downcast boyfriend. Lavi tries looking at his face, but it's hidden behind his bangs and he can still see the occasional tear drop from his chin, onto his legs.

"I… really d-don't want to s-say…" Allen wraps his arms around himself, still looking down at the floor of the car and avoiding Lavi's worried ones. Lavi places his hand on Allen's knee, trying to get him to look at him.

"Allen, I hate it when you hide things from me. Imagine if Lenalee and Yu were here, they would want you to tell someone, even if it isn't them. We just want what's best for you and I know that of you don't tell me then you're not going to tell anyone else." This might sound a bit egotistic, but they both know it's true. Allen won't let anyone touch him, unless it's Lavi, so they both know that what Lavi just said is a fact. Allen pulls his feet up onto the seat, getting into a small ball and trying to see as small as possible.

"I k-know… It j-just hurts to s-say." He glances at Lavi behind his long bangs before looking back at his knees. Lavi turns in his seat and hugs Allen a little awkwardly, but they don't really care.

"Then don't say it, just answer something for me." Lavi mumbles, still holding Allen in his arms. Allen nods his head after a moment and Lavi continues, "Were you raped when you were with the Earl?" Allen breaks out into another sob and nods his head, his grip on Lavi so tight that his knuckles turn white.

"I knew that Allen going back to school was a bad idea!" Neah yells, stomping down the hallway with Tyki following him.

"It wasn't a bad idea. They probably just made him stay after so he could catch up on some work." Tyki tries to calm the raging adult, "Besides, he has his friends with him. What could go wrong?"

"A lot could go wrong! And it's not like he can protect himself since he doesn't have Kira anymore!" Neah goes into his room and marches up to his drawer. He opens the first one and shuffles through it, "Where is it?"

"How do you know Kira isn't there anymore?" Tyki asks, handing Neah his phone from his pocket. Neah takes it with a glare and looks through the contacts.

"Because I don't think Allen would've regained his memories unless Kira wasn't holding them anymore. Therefore, Kira is either letting Allen finally see what happened, or he's gone." He finally finds the number he was looking for and clicks the send button, calling the person.

"Who're you calling?" Tyki asks after seeing Neah look more frustrated and snap the phone shut.

"I was trying to call Allen's friend, Lavi, but he's not answering." Neah growls out. A second later they hear the front door opening and slamming shut.

"Hey, anyone home?" Lavi calls out while helping Allen get his coat off and hanging it on the coat rack.

"There you are! Where have you been?" Neah comes running down the hallway and looks at the two teens in the doorway.

"Sorry, I dragged Allen with me to the library real quick to pick up some books for my Gramps. Didn't mean to make you worry." Lavi scratches the back of his neck nervously and Allen slightly nods his head.

"Allen… Are you okay?" Neah softens his voice and looks towards his paler-than-usual nephew. Allen suddenly runs past Neah and into his room, murmuring an 'excuse me.' "Allen…!"

"He's not feeling too good right now. Probably something he ate at school." Lavi laughs off, jogging to Allen's room where the smell of vomit fills the air. Neah and Tyki come in a moment later just in time to hear the sound of puking coming from the bathroom. Lavi walks up to the bathroom and opens it, revealing Allen on the floor with his head in the toilet. Neah and Tyki watch from the door as Lavi kneels by him and Allen whispers something to him before letting his head hang in the toilet again. "Um, sorry guys, but Allen wants you to leave. No hard feelings, he just kinda wants to be alone right now."

"Okay, if you're sure…" Neah slowly says and looks back at Tyki. He places his hand on Neah's shoulder and leads him out of the room, shutting the door behind them. He pushes him into the living room and goes into the kitchen, pouring two wine glasses. He comes back and hands one to Neah before taking a seat next to him. "'Ate something bad' my ass…"

"What do you expect? They're not going to tell the adults something straight away. They are going to wait until it is near a 'life, or death' situation before they tell someone else." Tyki takes a sip of his drink, "God knows we did the exact same thing when we were younger." Neah lets out a sigh, gulping down half his drink and setting it on the table. "They'll tell us when they're ready, no need to rush. Especially with Allen, you don't want to break your trust with him by pushing him too hard."

"What exactly are your thoughts on my nephew, Tyki?" Neah looks at him with a slight glare and Tyki reassures his old friend.

"Your protective, aren't you? It's nothing like that, he just reminds so much of you. He might've spent his time with your brother, but that's enough for Allen to act just like you." Tyki takes another sip with a smile, glad that Neah is out of his depressing mood for now.

"Really? I see more of Mana in him then me." He glances down the hall, "I guess that's called for since he was my older brother. I looked up to him." He drinks the rest of his glass and looks towards Tyki, "I miss him…"

"I know you do. I've dealt with your drunken rants one too many times. How many glasses have you had today?" He takes the wine glass away from Neah and stands to go to the kitchen with him following. He picks up the wine bottle and notices that it's almost empty. "How'd you even get into my wine cabinet? Don't tell me you broke the lock again."

"Hmm, maybe." Tyki shakes his head and places the glasses in the sink before re-corking the wine bottle.

"You're drunk, you better sleep it off before the boys come back out." He pulls Neah out of the kitchen and towards the hall, "I thought you said you were going to cut back."

"I couldn't help it. You know when I'm stressed I need something to do, or I'll go crazy!" Neah whines out, now starting to feel the effects of all the alcohol in his system.

"That doesn't give you an excuse to drink. I'm putting a fucking padlock on the wine cabinet." Tyki says, opening Neah's door and pulling him in. "Just sleep it off, so that when Allen lets us back in his room, you'll be sober for it." He pushes Neah onto the bed and starts walking back to the door, but Neah grabs his sleeve.

"Tyki~ Sleep with me~" He whines out, looking up at Tyki with a pout, "It'll be like old times." Neah says with a smirk and Tyki shakes his head, a smile on his face.

"Later. You're drunk and it would be considered rape." He shrugs out of Neah's grip and walks to the door.

"It's not rape if you like it!" Neah calls out as Tyki closes the door, leaving him in the dim lit room. He puts again before breaking out into a wide grin. Neah moves around on the bed, snuggling into the pillows before falling asleep. Tyki walks down the hallway and stops at Allen's door, just standing there for a second. He knocks on the door a few times after a moment.

"Are you two okay?" He hears shuffling and Lavi opens the door with a nervous smile.

"Yeah, Allen just had to get that out of his system. He's okay now, I think." Lavi glances behind him, probably towards Allen.

"Yeah, I'm good…" Allen's voice comes through the bathroom door then the sound of a toilet flushing is heard. "I think I'm just going to rest for a while, Tyki. You can go home, if you want, Lavi." Allen walks out of the bathroom and runs a hand through his hair.

"If you think that's best, Allen." Lavi walks further into the room and hugs Allen before walking out of the room. "See you guys tomorrow." He leaves the house after Tyki had waved at him and gets into his car.

"If you still feel bad in the morning, you can stay home tomorrow, Allen." Tyki watches Allen shuffle to his bed and under the covers.

"Thank you Tyki, but I think I'll be fine. I'm just going to go to sleep early tonight, don't bother waking me up if you make dinner, okay?" Allen throws the covers over himself after getting his shoes and socks off, not bothering with his shirt and pants.

"Sure, I'll tell Neah so he doesn't worry." He shuts off the light and closes the door, "Good night, Allen." He shuts it the whole way and walks down to the kitchen to get some food. He doesn't bother with making anything, just reheats last night's dinner, not wanting to worry if he had to make some for Neah or not. "What are those two hiding…?"

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**Sorry for not posting this earlier. Like I said, I had a lot of family stuff going on, but everything's fine now~ I was working on this during the week and with everything going on, I feel it's kind of… sloppy? I don't know, but I do know that I don't really like it. Anyway, I put some more drama in there for you people. I don't know why it's so fun to torture your favorite characters~ Oh yeah, I'm changing the rating to M just to be safe. I've read a lot of stories where there was very little cursing and they put it M, so yeah… Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Warning! You are about to read semi-graphic scenes containing rape! Like everybody else says; don't like, don't read!**

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

Allen groans in his sleep, turning over so he faces the ceiling before slowly opening his eyes. He brings his hand up and rubs at his eyes, slowly sitting up. He yawns and scooches to the end of the bed, putting his bare feet on the clod floor. He reaches out blindly to the bedside table for the lamp he knew was there, but just couldn't find.

"What the…?" He stands and puts both his hands on the table, finding that nothing was on it except for a… robe? Allen feels a chill run through his body and looks down at his body. He yelps as he puts on the robe, covering his naked body. The robe doesn't do much though, it stops mid-thigh and it's definitely not meant for warmth since it seems to be made of a thin silk. "When did I get undressed?" Allen does not remember getting undressed last night and definitely not getting into his birthday suit! The robe is a deep red colour and has sleeves flowing past his hands, hiding Allen's arm. He looks around the room, trying to see in the darkness and fumbles towards what he thinks is the door.

Allen runs his hands along the walls, hoping to feel something resembling a light switch, and he lets out an accomplished sound after a moment. Flicking up the switch, he turns around and looks at the room, his heart dropping at the sight. Instead of the black and white comforter he had at Tyki's house, it's a deep red blanket, the material looking to be the same as the robe he's wearing. It's the same bed he had when he was with the Earl. Running to the middle of the large room, he looks around at the familiar room, his breath quickening.

"No…!" He stares at the light overhead, its red hue filling the room with the colour, instead of a regular white. He falls to his knees and holds his head, staring at the floor with glazed eyes. "No! I'm not here again! It's just a dream, just a dream…" Allen whispers to himself, rocking back and forth slightly. The sound of heavy boots walking on hardwood is heard and Allen looks up the door. The footsteps are getting close and he scrambles to the other side of the bed. The door is flung open just as Allen gets behind the bed, making sure whoever just entered couldn't see him. The heavy boots come closer to the bed and he yelps in pain when his hair is gripped, forcing him up. Allen is thrown on the bed and he shuffles backwards until his back is touching the headboard. He watches the man, an Akuma, close the door and stomp back towards him, tossing his coat off.

"The Earl said I could have some 'fun' by myself, isn't that great?" He smirks at Allen and walks forward, making Allen go further towards the edge of the bed. "You shouldn't be scared, little one. You're used to this already, aren't you?" He crawls onto the bed, a smile never leaving his face, and Allen can feel his whole body shaking. He remembers this man, he's the one who first touched him after the Earl had left him alone with the guards in this room. He sent everybody else out and raped him that night. Allen guesses that he's a high level if he can just order the others around like that.

"Ah!" He yelps out when the man grabs his ankle, pulling Allen towards him. "Let go!" He tightens his grip and restrains Allen's flailing arms to each side of his head. He drags them upwards and holds both his wrists with one hand, his other going towards his belt. The robe on Allen is lifted slightly because of his arms and he curls his legs up, trying to cover himself. The man clicks his tongue and brings Allen's legs down with his free hand.

"Now, now, we can't have any of that, can we?" He picks up Allen and places him higher on the bed and brings up his hands to the headboard. Allen's eyes widen at the sight of handcuffs and his struggles grow stronger. This doesn't seem to distract the man and he locks both of his wrists in the cold metal after stringing the cuffs around a pole in the headboard.

"S-Stop!" Allen voice breaks in the middle, panic rising in his chest. He pulls against the cuffs, the metal cutting slightly into his skin. The man ignores his pleas and raises the bottom of the robe, pushing it up to Allen's hips. Allen gasps and tries to cover himself again with his legs, but the man rests right between his thighs, preventing his legs from moving with his big hands. He brings one of his hands up to Allen's mouth and forces three fingers down his throat. Allen gags on it and tries to force his hand out, choking on it. After a moment, he pulls them out and brings his hand to Allen's entrance. He puts two fingers in and Allen lets out a shout of pain.

"You're lucky the Earl said that I had to be gentle with you, otherwise I would've taken you raw." Allen clenches his eyes shut and bites his bottom lip, trying to will away the burning pain in his bottom. This has already happened a few times, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with the pain. He adds a third and final finger and scissors all of them, making a few tears fall from Allen's eyes. He finally pulls out after a moment and wipes his hands on the blanket under them.

"Please stop! Please…!" His voice is rough and he can taste blood in his mouth, he probably got scratched from the man's fingers inside his throat. The man brings up his hand and slaps Allen across his face, tired of being easy on him. The force of the slap makes Allen turn his head to the side, half his face buried in the pillow. Keeping his head like that, Allen lets out a sob when he suddenly enters him. He doesn't know how long it lasts, keeping his eyes shut to try to block out everything happening. The only sounds in the room are muffled sobs, creaking from the bed, and quiet grunts coming from the guard. Allen curls in on himself, his knees up to his chest, pulling on the cuffs again. He feels something warm leak out of his bottom and shivers. The man shakes his shoulder and Allen pushes away from him, tears still falling down his cheeks. He hears music playing and slightly opens his eyes to be met with darkness, the scene before him fading away.

_There's a fire starting in my heart,  
>Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark,<em>

The shadows start creeping away, leaving him in a more familiar setting, somewhere safer.

_Finally, I can see you crystal clear,  
>Go ahead and sell me out and a I'll lay your ship bare,<br>See how I'll leave with every piece of you,  
>Don't underestimate the things that I will do,<em>

Allen lets out a gasp and he takes a moment of just staring up at the ceiling of his room in Tyki's house. He slowly sits himself up and sits against the pillows, bringing his hand up to his chest, feeling his racing heart.

_There's a fire starting in my heart,__  
><em>_Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark._

He looks over at his alarm clock before turning off the radio, taking deep breaths. He starts coughing mid-breath and holds his hand in front of his mouth. The cough starts getting harsher and he stands up, using the bed to support his wobbly legs. He walks into the bathroom and fills up a glass with water, taking sips of it between breaths and coughs. After drinking the whole thing, he sets it on the counter and rubs at his throat. Allen looks into the mirror and opens his mouth as wide as he can. He lets out a small whine at the pain that came with this, but kept his mouth open. After a moment he sees red painted on the back of his throat and closes his mouth in shock. He finally tastes something metallic on his tongue and realizes that it's blood.

"Hey Allen! Time to wake up for school!" Lavi yells, kicking open Allen's bedroom door. "Wakey wakey~!" He jumps onto the bed only to find that it didn't have anyone on it. "Allen?" Kanda walks through the doorway a minute later with his ever-present scowl on his face, looking very annoyed. Lavi gets up from the bed and walks to the bathroom, knocking on the door a few times. "Allen, you in here?" He opens the door to peek in and sees his shorter boyfriend/friend standing in front of the mirror like he just saw a ghost. "Are you okay?" Kanda steps forward, next to Lavi, and pushes the door fully open, watching as Allen slowly turns to face them with wide eyes.

"What are you doing Moyashi?" Kanda stares at Allen, slightly taken back that he didn't react to the nickname. Allen clears his throat slightly and lets out a small cough.

"Lavi, Kanda." His voice is hoarse and he lets out a hacking cough afterwards.

"Whoa, your voice sounds horrible, Allen. Are you sick?" Lavi steps into the bathroom and Kanda stays in his spot in the doorway. Allen shakes his head and rubs slightly at his throat. "Then what is it?"

"There's… blood…" He chokes out, feeling another coughing fit coming. Not a second later, he brings his mouth up to his mouth and starts letting out harsh sounding coughs. He leans over the sink and spits out a red liquid, everyone's eyes going wide when they realize the liquid is blood.

"Oh God, Allen!" Both of them rush to Allen's side and Lavi makes him put his head up. "Open your mouth." Allen does as he says and winces slightly when Lavi rubs at a sore spot on his throat. "Allen, how did you get scratches at the back of your throat?" He releases Allen's jaw and looks at him with wide eyes.

"Don't know…" A few more coughs come from Allen and Lavi looks at Kanda.

"It doesn't look too serious, he just needs to refrain from talking for a few days until the cuts heal. Can you go check if his bedroom window is unlocked, or looks broken into?" Kanda glances at Allen before nodding his head, cursing at Lavi in his head for telling him what to do. Lavi turns back to Allen, worry evident in his eyes. "You don't know what happened?" Allen just shakes his head and rests his forehead on Lavi's shoulder, his throat feeling like someone had gone over it with sandpaper.

"The window's locked. There's no way somebody could've gotten in there." Kanda calls out, still looking at the window frame. Timcanpy bumps into his arm and Kanda smacks at him, making Tim mad. He bites his sleeve and Kanda turns his attention to the small golem with an annoyed expression. "What?" He growls out and Tim lands on the windowsill, opening his mouth wide and revealing his sharp teeth. A second later, Kanda takes a step back when a light flickers from his mouth and appears in front of him. "Moyashi…?" It appears to be a video of Allen sleeping in his bed. There's no sound and he keeps watching the holograph, his eyes widening every second that passes.

"Do you think we should call Neah, or something?" Lavi asks Allen and he looks up at him with wide eyes, shaking his head furiously. "Why not?" Before Allen could say anything, or at least try to, Kanda comes into the bathroom with Tim balled into his hand.

"I know who gave Moyashi the scratches." He drops Tim onto the bathroom counter and pulls his hand away before he could snap at it. Tim growls at Kanda warningly before facing Lavi and Allen, opening his mouth again. The same thing from before and all three watch the video. Allen's sleeping on his bed and after a minute, he starts squirming around on the bed. He's thrashing on the bed and even if there's not sound, you can tell he's yelling by the motions of his mouth. His right hand goes up to the headboard, his knuckles going white from the strength of his hold; his left goes up to his mouth, prying it open. The hand goes deep into his mouth, the wrist touching his lips before his hand is suddenly pulled out and everything gets calm again. Timcanpy closes his mouth and flaps his wings, watching the three boys stand there in silence.

"What…" Lavi's the one to break the silence, not sure of what should say. He looks over at Allen who has his mouth over his mouth and is still staring at Timcanpy with wide eyes. "Allen…?" This seems to pull him out from his shock-induced state as he looks over at Lavi, his hand slowly dropping to his side. Tim flies up to Allen's shoulder and nuzzles his neck, sensing the stress coming from him. Allen lets out a few coughs and Lavi comes up, rubbing his back. "You can still go to school if you want, but you won't be able to talk to anyone without your throat hurting."

"If it gets worse, you can have sister-complex look at it during school." Kanda adds in, knowing that Allen would want them to go to school and not worry about him, despite what they have just seen. Allen nods his head and Lavi leads him into the bedroom and leaves the room so he can get dressed, Kanda following a few steps behind. After Allen had gotten dressed and grabbed his bag, he left the house and followed Lavi and Kanda to the car. Kanda gets into the driver seat and Lavi in the passenger, both glancing back at Allen staring out the window every now and then. Allen taps on Lavi's shoulder and whispers something, finding that whispering hurts his throat less than talking normally.

"Hey, Yu, Allen wants to know where Lenalee is." Lavi says and Kanda punches his arm without looking away from the road.

"Don't call me that. She had to help her brother with something at school." Allen nods his head and goes back to staring out the window, ignoring Lavi's whines of Kanda being mean to him. They get to the school and Kanda parks the car before shutting off the engine. Allen opens the door and gets out of the car, followed by Kanda and Lavi. Kanda goes ahead of the two, wanting to see Lenalee before classes start and Lavi holds Allen's hand in his once Kanda leaves their sight.

"You okay? You're really out of it." Lavi asks as they start walking slowly to the school entrance. There are only a few people since Kanda parked in the back of the school and Allen doesn't mind when Lavi pulls him closer and kisses his forehead. They stop walking and Allen digs into his bag, pulling out a notebook and pen. He opens to an empty page and starts writing in the page, starting to walk slowly to the school again. After finishing, he gives the notebook to Lavi, letting hi read what he put down.

_Are you sure I should be going to school? I can't even talk right; I have to whisper in order for my throat not to hurt when talking to people. What about Klaud? I have to meet with her today._

"It'll be okay Allen. Just tell the teachers that you have a bad sore throat. Besides, Klaud will understand. She'll probably just postpone your session thing." Lavi wraps a hand around Allen's waist and gives him a chaste kiss before pulling away. "I have to go to the library to help out. "I'll see you in second period, okay?" Allen nods his head and Lavi gives him the notebook back before going inside the school. Allen goes in a after he put the book and pen back in his bag. As he walks to his art class, he remembers that today is a Day 3, so he doesn't have period three (yay, no gym~). He enters the art room and immediately gets started on his art work, hoping to look busy so no one will try to talk to him. A few minutes later, Lenalee walks in and runs to the back of the room with Allen.

"Kanda told me what happened, so don't talk or anything. Are you okay?" Allen nods his head with a smile. "Do you know why your body hurt you like that?" Allen lets out a sigh and shakes his head. "Ah… Well, I heard that you're going to have a session with Klaud, she can help. She's a licensed therapist, so maybe she'll know what's going on." Their conversation kept going on with light talk as they worked, Lenalee doing all the talking, of course. If Allen couldn't answer with a simple shake of the head, he wrote in his notebook for Lenalee to read. The bell rings and they leave after promising to see each other at lunch.

"Hey Allen! How's the throat?" Lavi asks as Allen sits next to him in the classroom. Allen writes in the notebook and gives it to Lavi. "Same as this morning, huh? Well, at least you haven't coughed up any blood again." Allen nods his head and the bell rings, signifying the beginning of class. Before the teacher could start talking though, a student office-helper knocks on the door and walks in. She gives a pass to the teacher and waves to a couple of her friends before leaving the classroom.

"Mr. Walker, Klaud would like to see you in her office." He calls out, holding the pass out towards him. Allen gets up and grabs the pass before going back to his seat and picking up his stuff.

"Don't hold back, you can tell her what happened." Lavi whispers to Allen as he walks by. He gives him a thumbs up and a grin before facing the front of the classroom again. Allen smiles and leaves the classroom, feeling slightly nervous. He walks down the stairs, passing by classrooms, and listening to a few teachers as he walks pass them.

"Allen!" Lenalee whisper-yells behind Allen. She jogs up to him when he pauses in his steps, catching up. "Where are you going?" Allen hands her the pass his teacher gave him as an explanation. "Wow, already? I figured she was going to do it during Power Time, or sometime later today. Guess she doesn't have any other students to see." **(Power Time is the time after all the classes when you have 45 min. to do your homework and junk) **She gives him the pass back and holds the clipboard closer to her chest. "I was just delivering some passes since the other girl was out of the office. Are you going to tell her what happened this morning?" Allen takes out his notebook and starts writing in it.

_Lavi says I should and I think so too. I just want to know why that happened in the first place._

Lenalee nods her head and hands him the notebook back. They stay in silence for a minute or two until Lenalee's quiet voice breaks through.

"What are you keeping from us Allen?" Allen stops walking and looks at Lenalee with a confused expression. "From what Kanda told me, it seems like you're keeping something from him and me. Why are you keeping us out of the loop?" It takes a moment for Allen to realize what she's talking about and when he does, he looks down at the ground, not meeting her eyes. He writes in the notebook again.

_It's complicated… I swear I'll tell you when I'm ready. I'm not keeping you out, or anything, I just told Lavi because the situation called for it. I'll explain everything, I promise._

Allen still doesn't meet her eyes and Lenalee smiles at him. She hands him the notebook again and brings him into a hug, not noticing the small flinch from Allen's body. She pulls away after a moment and smiles at him again, making him smile back.

"I'll see you later, okay? If I don't get these passes out, I'll get in trouble." Allen nods his head and waves at Lenalee as she hurries down the hallway. A few minutes later, he arrives at the counselors' office. The lady directs him to the right room and lets him inside before shutting the door behind him.

"Allen, it's nice to see you again." Klaud smiles at Allen and he could feel his nerves calming a little. He takes a seat in the chair in front of the desk and Klaud starts again, "What do you want to start talking about?" Allen starts writing in his notebook and hands it to Klaud as Lau Jimin crawls onto his lap.

_I can't really talk. My throat is scratched up and I want to talk about that, if that's okay._

"Of course, Allen. You can talk about whatever you want as long as you feel comfortable enough to tell me." She hands him the notebook and watches as he writes in it again and Lau Jimin follows the pen with his eyes, looking like he actually knew what was being written. After a minute, Allen hands it to her again and digs through his backpack as she reads it.

_I don't know what it is and I hope you could tell me. Timcanpy recorded it, so it'll be easier just to show you._

She looks back at him and watches Allen place Timcanpy on the table in between them. Lau Jimin looks very interested again, but with a warning glance form Klaud, he stayed put. Tim opens his mouth and a light flickers out, showing them the same video he just saw this morning. Allen doesn't watch the video, instead petting Lau Jimin and looking at the very interesting carpet pattern. Once Tim closes his mouth, Allen chances a look up at Klaud and she's staring at the spot where the video was played with wide eyes. After a moment, she regains her composure and looks back at Allen.

"That's… interesting…" She's not sure of what else she could say to that, but she knows that this student is depending on her, "What exactly were you dreaming of when that happened?" Allen visibly stiffens and looks down at the floor again, avoiding her inquiring eyes. Klaud notices this and quickly reassures him, "You don't have to tell me right away, only when you feel comfortable, but I can't really help you until I know what you were dreaming of." Allen brings his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around his legs, making Lau jump onto the arm of the chair. Klaud looks at him with sadness in her eyes, slightly disturbed that whatever he dreamed of is so bad that he can't even tell her.

Lau Jimin looks at Allen curiously, sensing that he feels bad, but not too sure of what he should do. He makes a few chirping sounds and pulls on Allen's sleeve, trying to get his attention to no avail. Klaud's eyes widen slightly with realization and she quietly speaks, not wanting to startle the fragile boy in front of her.

"Was it when you were with the Earl?" Allen nods his head, Klaud barely catching the action from his head being buried in between his legs. She lets out a sigh and Lau tries to get his attention again, still not working. "Allen, it sounds like you have PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. I'm not too sure, but the symptoms definitely sound like it. If you could just answer a few questions for me, then I'll know for sure." Allen slightly raises his head, now looking back at the carpet, "They're just questions in general, nothing too personal yet." Allen nods his head after a moment and unwrap his arms from his legs, Lau taking up the space between his chest and knees.

Lau Jimin puts his hands on Allen's cheeks, looking at him as if he was a mother looking after their child. Allen lets out a small laugh and uncurls his legs fully to give the small monkey more room on his lap. Tim puffs his cheeks out and flies to the top of Allen's head, looking at Lau Jimin dangerously.

"Lau Jimin, come here." Klaud gently orders, not wanting the golem and monkey to get into a fight right on top of Allen. Lau jumps off of Allen's lap and onto the desk, perching itself on the edge. "Allen, do you feel nervous when people come into contact with you? I noticed that when I touched your shoulder in front of Komui's office the other day, you flinched." Allen nods his head and Tim flies to his lap, taking the place of Lau Jimin. "Can you elaborate what exactly you feel?" She gestures towards the notebook and Allen nods his head before writing on a new page with the pen.

_I guess I feel unsafe and vulnerable. I know that they aren't going to hurt me, but I can't help but to avoid people touching me._

"Do you feel comfortable with Lavi touching you? I saw you two in the parking lot this morning and you didn't shy away from him." Allen blushes slightly, a little embarrassed that someone was actually watching them and nods his head. "Why is that?"

_He knows what I have nightmares about and he was there when I needed it the most._

"So, you feel safer around him." Klaud states with slight amusement in her voice and Allen doesn't notice the change in her voice, nodding his head. "Are you two going out?" Allen blush turns a shade darker and he nods his head again. "That's nice, at least you have someone to help you through this. I'm happy for you." She says with a smile on her face, finding it cute that he's slightly embarrassed from being found out. He writes in the notebook again before handing it to her, the blush still apparent.

_Could you not tell anyone? We haven't told anyone yet because of everything that has been going on._

"Of course, Allen. I'll keep your little secret." Allen smiles graciously and she returns it with her own small smile. "I think that's enough for the day. I'll see you tomorrow if my schedule doesn't get hectic, okay?" She asks as she stands from her seat. Allen nods his head and rises from his own seat, taking a pass from Klaud once she fills it out. "It's fourth period now, since it's a Day 3." She leads him out of the office and into the hallway. Allen nods his thanks and puts Timcanpy into his pocket as he walks down the hallway, away from the counselors' office. It's halfway into fourth period and thank God that he has a substitute, he doesn't have to worry about missing work today. It appears that they're already in free time, so he goes to the back where Kanda was glaring at people who tried to approach him.

"Where were you?" Kanda asks once Allen pulled a chair up to his desk and sat down. Allen writes in his notebook and lays it on the desk for Kanda to read. Kanda nods his head and leans back in his seat after reading it and Allen starts doodling on the page. "Did you talk about what happened this morning?" Allen nods his head and writes in the corner of the page he was drawing on.

_She said I might have PTSD. It stands for 'post-traumatic stress disorder.' She asked me some questions and we're going to meet again tomorrow to make sure that's what I have._

Kanda stays silent after reading it and closes his eyes, crossing his arms. Allen bites his bottom lip and quickly writes again on the page and nudges Kanda slightly to open his eyes.

_Lenalee said that you two think that I'm keeping you out of the loop. Yes, I did tell Lavi something that I have yet to tell you and Lenalee, but only because the situation called for it. I promise I'll explain everything when the time's right._

"Che, you better, Moyashi. Making me fucking worry about you…" Kanda mumbles the last part to himself and Allen smiles, knowing that it takes a lot to have Kanda care about you, even if he doesn't show it much. The bell rings and everyone leaves the classroom to go to lunch. Kanda and Allen meet up with Lavi and Lenalee in the lunch room. Allen just gets a milk and water, not wanting to eat anything solid because of his throat.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay with just that, Allen?" Lenalee asks, looking at the two drinks Allen had gotten for lunch.

"He doesn't really have a choice, Lenalady. His throat, remember?" Lavi answers for Allen, taking a sip of his own drink.

"That's true, but still…" The rest of lunch goes on without a hitch and, before they knew it, the bell rings again. Kanda, Lenalee, and Lavi go down one hall while Allen goes down the other, their lockers all being in different areas of the school. Allen walks silently down the hall, avoiding the other students as he goes to his locker and unlocks it. Before he could open it, a hand is slammed onto his locker and another forces him to turn around. Four guys, all in weird masks, face him and two of them grab his arms. Before Allen could scream, one of them put duct tape on his mouth, muffling his yells. They drag him to the side of the hall and out a door, leading outside. Allen's locker is in an area where no one usually goes, in a back hallway where only a few classes are. Allen thrashes around in their strong hold as they push him against the brick wall. It's snowing again and Allen can see their breath coming out from the side of the masks.

"Hold him still." The one with a red mask says. Allen doesn't recognize the voice, but when he gets closer he kicks out at him. "Feisty bastard." He mumbles after blocking Allen's kick. He pulls out a small army knife and holds it up to Allen's throat. Allen stops all movement, afraid that even the slightest twitch will result in him getting cut. "Good. Get his legs." The two holding him put one of their legs against each of Allen's, forcing them into the cold brick wall. His whole body is flat against the wall now and he watches the fourth guy with a blue mask, who hasn't done anything yet, back up slightly and look each way, making sure that no one was coming. Allen could feel the memories coming back up and his breath starts coming out in harsh pants, the tape on his mouth forcing him to breath out his nose.

"Get it done with while no one's coming!" The blue mask says, still looking left and right, acting as a guard dog. The red mask nods his head and puts the knife under the hem of Allen's shirt, cutting it open in one movement. Allen shivers against the cold on his bare chest, his mind starting to go back to when he was a prisoner to the Earl. The knife is trailed down to his stomach and the red mask nicks his stomach, making Allen flinch back. The green-masked boy on Allen's left rips the tape off of his mouth, making him gasp out in pain.

"Get off!" Allen tries to free his legs and arms, but stops moving when the red mask cuts a thin line across his abdomen. The two cuts aren't deep enough to leave scars, but they are going to be there for a while.

"Where did all those scars come from?" The yellow-masked boy on Allen's right asks.

"He probably did them to himself." The red mask trails over a few of the scars on his stomach, Allen wincing when the knife presses too hard.

"Let me go!" Allen tries pleading again, only to get hit in the head with the butt of the knife. His vision swims and he yelps in pain when the knife leaves a deep line in his chest. Allen shuts his eyes and escapes to the depths of his mind. He doesn't feel the pain on his body anymore and he doesn't hear the four boys, a numb feeling coursing through his veins. Allen doesn't know how long it lasts, but he finally feels himself being shaken awake, being pulled away from the tranquility that overcame his mind.

He opens his eyes and sees nothing but gray. Allen feels droplets of cold landing on his face and realizes that he's on his back on the ground and it's still snowing. A flash of red catches his attention and he looks slightly to his left where somebody was still shaking him. Allen could barely see the figure's mouth moving, but he couldn't make out any words. A chill runs through his body as a breeze passes by and he can feel something being draped over his body, shielding him from the cold. He sees the red again and feels himself being picked up gently.

"Lavi…" He mumbles before going unconscious, knowing that he was in safe arms.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**Finally, I'm done with this chapter! I don't know why, but I just wanted to get this chapter over with to get to the good stuffs~ I almost had a panic attack today, it sucked. I was telling my mom how I always have these hot flashes (which suck) and she said that she used to have them when she was little too. I guess the thyroid is responsible for the hot flashes? She said that thyroid problems run in our family and that I'm going to have to get some blood work done to catch it early. My mom had her thyroid removed recently and I can't even look at the scar without cringing, so the thought of having a surgery on my throat made me want to cry. I'm seriously about to break down and cry in the corner; I hate needles, doctors, hospitals, anything like that. My aunt said that I might as well get used to taking pills now because I'm going to have all these medical problems when I'm older, and that I always was a sickly child. God, I really don't want to have any surgeries TT^TT**


	12. Chapter 12

**God, I hate the SOL's… They are just so tiresome and the whole system behind them is really useless… Anyway, here's the next chapter of Dealing With The Past~!**

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

"God damn it, where is he?" Kanda pushes open another classroom door and quickly looks in before moving down the hall to the next one. His phone starts ringing and he pulls it out of his pocket, answering without even looking at the screen. "Have you seen him yet?" Kanda opens another door before scowling and slamming it shut.

"No and I just finished looking through the first floor. Nii-san hasn't seen Allen either." Lenalee nervously bites on her bottom lip and looks down the hallway to her left, "Lavi left school early, maybe he knows where Allen is. Meet me at the office after you're done checking the rooms and I'll call Lavi." She hangs up and starts walking towards the front of the school, looking through her contact list for Lavi's number. After lunch, Lenalee went to her next class, algebra, and she has that class with Allen. When the class started and Allen was yet to be seen, she started getting worried. After not seeing him for the rest of the periods, she was officially freaked out. Kanda said that he hasn't seen him and Lavi hasn't been seen since lunch, same as Allen.

"Fucking Moyashi…" Kanda mumbles, taking two steps at a time to get down the stairs faster. He runs down the hallway, ignoring the glare from a janitor he barely managed to evade. Kanda starts slowing down once the main office is in view and stops in front of a very worried looking Lenalee. "Were you able to reach the Usagi?"

"No, he didn't answer his phone. Where are those two?" She mumbles quietly, holding her hands close to her chest. Kanda lets out a sigh and hugs her tightly, Lenalee returning the embrace. "Maybe something happened and Lavi took Allen to his house?" Kanda nods his head and releases her from the hug. He intertwines their fingers and pulls her through the exit and into the parking lot. They get to Kanda's car and after getting situated, he drives off towards Lavi's house.

"I'll get it!" Lavi yells out, standing up from his spot on the couch. He leaves his drink on the coffee table and goes to the front door. He opens the door and barely dodges a long, sharp blade being slashed at his head. "Jesus! What did I do?" Lavi steps backwards and away from the pissed off teen in front of him. Lenalee steps in front of Kanda and looks at Lavi.

"Why'd you go home early?" Lenalee asks, making sure that Kanda doesn't try hurting him again.

"Gramps pulled me out for the day. He said he needed help with some drop-off at the library." Lavi shrugs, not taking his eyes off the wannabe samurai with a very dangerous weapon.

"So… Allen's not with you?" Lavi looks at Lenalee with an eyebrow raised.

"Nooo…" He drawls out, a little confused as to where this is going. "Why would he be?"

"We haven't seen him since lunch today, so we figured that something happened and you took him to your house." Lavi's eyes widen at Lenalee's words and he looks at the two, shock written all over his face.

"You mean, we have no clue where he is?" Kanda and Lenalee shake their heads and Lavi races back to the living room. "Gramps, I'm going out for a while! I have my phone if you need me!" He shouts out before pushing his two friends out of the house and shutting the door before Bookman could say anything. "Let's start at Tyki's house, see if he's there." The three of them get into Kanda's car and quickly drive down the road.

Allen wakes up with a start, coughing violently. He sits up, but not without pain shooting through his chest. Allen looks down at his chest and glances at white bandages before coughing into his hand, more blood coming out. After catching his breath he wipes his hand on his jeans with a disgusted look and looks at the bandages on his chest again.

'How did I get these…?' Then he remembers what happened at school, after lunch, when those four boys had ambushed him. 'What did they even want?' Trailing his fingers along the bandages, he winces when he pressed a little too hard. He looks around the room and notices that he's in his room in his house. The house he lived in with Cross. Allen stands up from the bed, slowly this time, and walks towards the door. He opens it a crack and looks into the hallway, finding it empty and dark. Venturing down the hall, he sees that the windows are boarded up and covered with newspaper. Allen peels the corner of one away and sees that the sun is setting outside, making it late in the evening. 'If it's still the same day then I've been out for a while. Who brought me here?' He remembers someone picking him up and he thought that it was Lavi because he didn't feel nervous when the person picked him up.

Allen looks around the corner into the kitchen and sees that the patio door is covered in newspapers, but the handle is uncovered, as if someone was using it to enter. He gets a glass from the cabinet and fills it with water from the sink before drinking it to help sooth his throat. Allen leaves the glass in the sink and saunters into the living taking a seat on the couch and deciding to wait for Lavi to get back.

'I wonder where Timcanpy is.' He shifts a little in his seat to get comfortable, being careful of the wrappings on his chest. Allen looks down at the bandages again, wondering what exactly those boys did to him. 'I guess a little look wouldn't hurt…' He delicately starts unwrapping the bandages, wincing slightly when they stuck to, what he's guessing to be, cuts. After getting most of them off, he notices that the cuts seem to be formed in a word. Allen can't really say what it says so he gets up again and heads for the bathroom to look in the mirror.

"Oh God…" Allen silently whispers, looking at the scars with wide eyes. _Fag_ was written out on his chest in big, sloppy letters, just starting to scab over. That's what those boys wanted with him; they must have seen him with Lavi this morning and decided to take action. After calming himself down, Allen looks through the medicine cabinet for more bandages. After finding a roll, he rewraps his chest, trying to avoid contact as much as possible. He closes the medicine cabinet and gasps out of surprise, taking a few steps back. In the mirror of the cabinet is a dark, looming figure standing behind Allen. He looks behind him quickly before looking back at his reflection, the figure still there with a wide Cheshire cat smile. Allen lets out a shaky breath, closing his eyes.

'It's not real, I'm seeing things from the stress I've been having lately.' He reasons and opens his eyes again to stare at the dark moving swirls that make up the body. The grin seems to get even larger and the shadow brings his hand up onto Allen's shoulder. Allen lets out a yelp when he feels pressure on his shoulder and backs away from the mirror and falls into the tub, barely hitting his head on the side. Allen brings his hand up to his racing heart and stares at the mirror, only able to see a glimpse of the shadow man because of the angle. The door is slammed open and Allen jumps slightly, finally hitting the back of his head on the side of the tub.

"Moyashi!" Kanda yells at Allen before helping him stand up from the tub. Allen winces as Kanda pulls him up, the force pulling slightly at his cuts. "What the hell are you doing? We've been fucking looking for you everywhere!" He pulls Allen out of the bathroom and down the hall where Lavi and Lenalee are waiting with frantic looks on their faces. Allen notices that he doesn't seem to mind Kanda's touch as much as he used to as Kanda lets go of his arm.

"Allen, you can't just leave school without telling anyone! Do you know how worried we were?" Lenalee rarely raises her voice and when it is, you know that you've fucked up. Allen looks at Lavi confusedly.

"What?" Lavi asks once he notices the weird look that Allen was giving him. Allen looks around before going to the kitchen and picking up the pad and pen from the counter. He walks back to his friends and writes something on the pad before handing it to Lavi.

"'Aren't you the one who brought me here?' Nooo, I went home early and they came to my house saying they haven't seen you since lunch." Lavi answers, very confused as to why Allen would think he brought him here. Allen returns the look and glances at the other two before looking back at Lavi. "What happened to you?" Lavi asks, now just noticing the bandages on his chest. Allen takes back the pad and writes on it again.

_A bunch of guys ambushed me and pulled me outside before cutting me up. I thought that you were the one to bring me here?_

"Wait, who cut you up?" Lenalee grabs the pad from Lavi and reads it with Kanda looking at it from over her shoulder. Her eyes go wide when she finishes and she looks at Allen's chest where the wrappings are. Allen shakes his head and shrugs, answering Lavi's question. Lenalee gives him the pad back.

_I don't know who they were, they had masks on._

Lavi lets out a sigh and looks towards Allen's chest.

"Does it hurt?" Allen shakes his head and he's not lying. It only hurts a little when he moves around too much. Lavi stares at him for a moment before looking away, accepting the answer for now. "So you have no clue who brought you here? Are you sure that you didn't just walk here by yourself?" Allen shrugs his shoulders after a moment, not sure of what happened then anymore. All he remembers is seeing red and feeling like he was being picked up.

'Maybe it was…' Allen mentally shakes his head from the thought. 'No, he's gone. It couldn't have been him.'

"We should get Allen back before Neah and Tyki start worrying about him. It's bad enough we basically broke into their house to look for Allen, we don't need to cause them anymore stress." Lenalee says after a moment of silence went through the four teens. Everyone agrees and start heading towards the door. Allen stops and races back to his room before looking around. He spots a jacket lying on the ground by the bed and grabs it before slipping it on slowly, not wanting to stress his cuts. He leaves the room and follows Lavi, who was waiting for him, out the door and to Kanda's car. Allen gets into the car and Lavi sits in afterwards, shutting the car door. Kanda starts the car and drives away from the abandoned house.

"Hey Allen, where's Tim?" Lavi asks after Kanda had pulled onto the main road. Allen shrugs, pulling the coat closer to his body. It's snowing a little harder now, but Allen refuses to look at the windows, knowing he'll see that shadow in his reflection again. They get to Tyki's with no problems and all get out of the car. Kanda's the one to open the door and let themselves in.

"Did you find him?" Neah's voice rings through the air as he gets up from the couch and walks towards the door.

"Yeah, he was at his old house. He says that some punks at school cut him up and that someone carried him to the house." Neah looks at the bandages on Allen's chest worriedly, "Allen believes it was me, so we're not sure what really happened."

"You three should get home, I'm sure that your parents are worrying about you." Neah says, sounding tired. Lavi looks like he's about to say something, but a look from Allen shuts him up. The three teens nod their head and head out after saying their goodbyes. Lavi even managed to sneak in a kiss on his cheek with no one being the wiser. Allen starts up the stairs to his room with Neah following. He enters his room and immediately pulls out some clothes to warm his cold body up. "Does it hurt?" Neah gestures to his chest and Allen shakes his head. He stares at him with a serious face, not believing Allen. He grabs a piece of paper and writes on it with a pen.

_It only hurts if I move around too much, but other than that I'm fine._

"If you say so… Why _did _those boys hurt you like that?" Allen shrugs his shoulders, easily lying to his uncle. "Okay, well you should get some sleep. You're not going to school tomorrow, by the way. I know that Christmas break is next week, but I don't think the teacher's will mind. You did get all your work you missed, right?" Allen nods his head and Neah continues, "That's good, and I doubt that they're doing anything important before Christmas." Allen nods his head again, not really listening. "Well, I guess I'll let you sleep. Good night." Neah walks towards the door and is about to open it until he feels arms wrap around his stomach. He looks down at the pajama-covered arms before looking behind himself, only able to see a few strands of white hair. "Allen…?" He looks up and offers Neah a small smile.

"I'm sorry." Allen lets out a whisper, not wanting to strain his throat, "For everything; worrying you, not telling you anything, just anything I did to make you stressed." Neah twists around in the hug and slowly hugs Allen back, making sure that he's okay with it before enveloping in a tight embrace.

"It's okay. Sure, it gets a bit annoying that you don't tell me anything, but I know that you'll tell me whenever you're ready. I'm just happy that I get to see you and get to talk to you myself. I don't care if you were adopted by Mana; the way he talked about you, anyone would think that you were his own son." Neah pulls away after a moment and looks at his nephew, "You should seriously get some rest, I can see bags under your eyes." Allen lets out a small laugh and nods his head before going back to his bed. Neah shuts off the light after he gets into the bed and opens the door. "Good night." He leaves the room and goes to his own after shutting the door. Neah gets undressed and throws himself onto the bed, falling asleep with a small smile on his face.

**-Time Skip, Lolz~-**

"God, I hate work." Tyki groans while throwing on his coat for the trek into the snow outside.

"How do you hate work? Your job is to basically dine with rich people and be nice." Neah scoffs, handing Tyki his suitcase.

"Just because I get nice things out of it, doesn't mean I have to like it. Hanging out with stuffy, rich people gets annoying." Tyki grabs the suitcase and opens the door, letting in the cold air from outside, "I'll see you later, bye." He shuts the door quickly, preventing anymore cold air getting into the warm house.

"God, I feel like a wife seeing my husband off." Neah muses as he walks back up the stairs to the kitchen to finish cleaning up the mess from breakfast. "Yeah, I'm definitely the wife if I'm left to do this…" He places all of the dishes in the sink and lets the water rinse over them before leaving the kitchen. "I should probably check in with work again, see if anything important came up." Neah goes into his own room and picks up his phone while sitting on the edge of his bed.

Allen slowly opens his eyes and sits up, stretching his arms high above his head. After getting a few satisfying cracks, he swings his legs over to the side of the bed and stands up. He walks over to the connected bathroom and looks through the cabinets for a first aid kit. After finding the white box, he replaces his bandages before actually using the toilet. He finishes his business and leaves the bathroom, out of his room, and into the hallway. Allen goes into the kitchen and pulls out a big glass from the cabinet before filling it up with milk. After drinking the whole thing in a few gulps, he goes back into the hallway and toward his room, not feeling really hungry at the moment. He stops at his door and looks down the hall where a set of stairs seems to be pulled from the ceiling.

'I didn't know Tyki had an attic.' Allen walks further down the hall to the fold-out stairs and looks up into the brightly lit room. 'Maybe Neah was looking for something and forgot to shut off the light?' He climbs the stairs and squints his eyes slightly at the bright light the room seems to be giving off. Once at the top he stands up straight and looks around the room once his eyes got used to the light. His eyes widen at the sight of a white grand piano in the center of the room.

Allen walks up to the piano and lets his hand trail along the case as he walks around it. Once he reaches the bench, he lets his hand drop to the black keys, playing a single note and hearing it ring through the empty room beautifully. Allen doesn't even notice the stair case being folded up, slowly, as to make sure the person in the room doesn't hear the small click that comes along with shutting it closed. He plays a few more notes, gradually moving all the way down to the other side of the keys and back.

Allen glances around the room and stops at the wall to the left of him, jumping slightly at the sight of another person. After realizing that the other person is just his own reflection, he calms down and also notices that the whole wall seems to be made of one giant mirror. He's glad that he doesn't see that shadow again in his reflection and looks back at the piano. Allen plays a few more notes, a little song this time, before shutting his eyes and just letting his hands play for him. Before he knows it, he's playing a complicated piece that sounds so sad, yet it fills you with a kind warmness you couldn't explain.

_Soshite bouyaha nemurini tsuite_

_Ikizuku haino nakane hono o hitotsu, futatsuto_

_Ukabu fukurami itoshii yokogao_

_Daichini taruru ikusenno yume, yume_

_Ginno hitomini yuragu yoruni umareochita kagayaku omae_

_Ikuo kuno tositsukiga_

_Ikutu inoriwo tsuchihe kaeshitemo_

_Watashiha inorituzukeru_

_Mou Kakonnokotoni aiwo_

_Tsunaidateni kisuwo_

Allen didn't mean to think the lyrics as he played, they just came up from the recesses of his mind. The last of the notes ring through the air and Allen finally opens his eyes. He feels someone staring at him and looks to his left at the mirror, his heart skipping a beat at the sight. The shadow is there again, that big grin in place. Allen lets out a sound, something similar to a growl, and stands up quickly, causing the bench to slide back. He walks up to the mirror and looks at the dark figure straight in the eyes (well, if you would call to empty spaces on the head eyes).

"What do you want?" Allen's voice comes out as a soft whisper, but it's clear as day in the quiet room. The shadow doesn't say anything in reply, just stares at him. "Do you have a name?" He just keeps staring at Allen, his smile seeming to grow the longer Allen tries to talk to him. Allen finally grows frustrated and sits back on the bench, ignoring the shadow watching him and putting all his attention to the song he played.

'I don't even know how to play the piano that well… And why did those lyrics seem so familiar?' He stays motionless as he thinks through his memories as to where he heard those lyrics. Allen remembers one moment, when he was really young and with Mana.

"_And then this will mean this!" A younger version of Allen is sitting on the ground and writing strange symbols with a stick into the snow under him. "Is that good Mana?" He looks up at a man sitting on a bench in front of him with a smile on his face._

"_That's perfect Allen. Make sure you remember these symbols and not forget them." Allen nods his head eagerly, promising to never forget, "Also, make sure you tell no one about the symbols. This is just for us, no one else, okay?"_

"_Of course Mana!" Allen smiles up at Mana and he returns the smile and ruffles the top of his hair._

'That's right, I made that song with Mana. We even made symbols so no one would be able to tell what it was. It was our own little secret.' Allen lets a small smile grow on his face, but his expression soon turns into one of confusion when he hears banging coming from the fold-out staircase. 'But I never closed it.' He stands up and walks to the spot on the floor before pushing down on it. It opens slightly and the rest of it follows, falling to the ground below with a loud thud. Allen hears a yelp come from below him and with a last glance at the piano, he starts down the stairs.

"What were you doing up there?" Neah asks after he got over the shock of the stairs coming down so suddenly and almost hitting him.

"I saw the stairs down and I thought that you left a light on, or something." Allen whispers, glad that his throat doesn't hurt as much as it used to. "So I went to turn it off, but I saw the piano and played on it. Was I not supposed to? I'm sorry." Allen quickly apologizes, now just realizing that he basically invaded someone else's privacy.

"Ah, it's okay, Allen. I was planning on showing you the piano anyway." Neah shrugs as he puts the stairs back up. "It's like a family heirloom, I guess. I got it from my grandfather since my father and Mana didn't really like playing the piano. "I've been keeping it at Tyki's house since I haven't really had a permanent home for a while." Neah shrugs and starts walking down the hallway with Allen by his side. "Do you know how to play?"

"Somewhat. I know how to play this one piece really well. I don't know what it's called, though." Allen's voice is now a little above a whisper, gradually working its way to the normal speaking level.

"Don't stress your voice too much. You don't want to go back to not having it at all, do you?" Allen shakes his head with a smile. "You know, I've been thinking…" Neah trails off, coming to a stop in the living room with Allen in front of him. Allen turns to look at Neah, waiting for him to finish. "Since everything has been calm with the Earl lately, I was thinking of finally settling down. You know, getting my own house and stop leeching off of Tyki."

"If you're sure that's what you want then it sounds great." Allen says with a smile, easily hiding his sadness. He wanted to stay with Neah, not have him move away from him.

"And I want you to come with me, Allen." Allen looks at him with wide eyes and Neah quickly clarifies, "We wouldn't be far! Just a few streets over and you could easily stay in touch with everybody. I just thought it would be nice to get our own house, like an actual family." He quietly mumbled the last part, hoping that Allen wouldn't hear it. Allen pulls Neah into a hug with a big smile on his face.

"I would love to, Neah." Neah returns the embrace, mindful of the cuts, and lets out a laugh, ecstatic that his nephew agreed. He pulls away after a moment and looks down at Allen.

"I'll let you know when I have everything ready then we can start moving into the house, okay?" Allen nods his head and a knock on the door pulls the two out of their family moment. "I'll get it." Neah walks towards the door and opens it, shivering slightly at the cold that greets him.

"Hey, is Allen here?" Lavi asks, waving slightly at Neah.

"Shouldn't you be at school?" Neah raises an eyebrow and Lavi's smile grows.

"School was let out because of the snow. I don't know why since it's only a few inches, but I'm not complaining." Lavi shrugs and Neah lets him in from the cold, shutting the door behind him. Lavi waves at Allen and unzips his coat, getting suddenly warm from the heat of the house. "I was wondering if I could take Allen out for a while, get his mind off of things."

"That's fine with me, Allen?" Neah looks towards his nephew and he nods his head before walking down the hallway to get dressed. "Just make sure you don't do anything too straining on him." Lavi nods his head and mock salutes Neah.

"Yes sir!" Neah shakes his head with a smile and looks back at the spot where Allen was before turning back to Lavi.

"Are you in a relationship with Allen?" Lavi flushes and scratches the back of his neck with a smile.

"Is it that obvious? He's kind of shy about it, so we haven't told anyone yet." Neah looks at Lavi, no emotions played on his face.

"You better not hurt him. If you do, I swear I will break you." Lavi pales and puts his hands up in a defensive manner.

"I would never hurt Allen! I care for him too much to do anything like that." Neah keeps his expression blank as he stares down the teen.

"You're not pressuring him into anything are you?" Lavi blushes furiously and shakes his head, denying trying to push Allen into anything.

"I'm not doing anything with him if he's not willing, I promise!" The questioning is halted to a stop when they hear a slight cough form the hallway. They both turn to Allen who is standing there with a small smile. He goes up to the coat rack and slowly pulls on his own coat, making sure that it's zipped up all the way.

"We'll see you later, Neah. I have my phone if you need anything." Lavi follows him outside and to his car, driving down the street after getting in.

"Did you just start talking this morning?" Allen nods his head and Lavi smiles, "That's good, it doesn't hurt does it?"

"Only if I'm too loud, other than that, it's fine." Allen reassures Lavi before looking out at the white streets, ignoring his reflection. "Where are we going?"

"I was thinking that we could go see a movie, if that's okay." Allen nods his head and Lavi continues, "Also, Neah knows about us being together." Allen faces him with wide eyes.

"W-What? How did does he know?" Lavi smiles and puts his hand on top of Allen's on his knee.

"Don't get mad at me, but I told him. While you were getting dressed, he starting interrogating me and it came up. I didn't want to lie, so I told him." Allen nods his head and looks down at their hands. "He was totally cool with it, if you're worried about that. Neah just wanted to make sure I wasn't pressuring you into anything." Allen blushes and nods his head, interlacing their fingers together. "So, anything interesting happen lately?"

"Neah asked me to move in with him. It'll only be a couple streets over so I'm still going to the same school." Lavi smiles and glances at Allen.

"That's great! Now you'll technically have your own place! Not really since Neah is there, but still." Lavi exclaims, obviously happy for his lover, especially since he's not moving anywhere away from him.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**Sorry if you think this chapter ends kind of abruptly. I had to get it finished so I can get some other stuff done. I hoped you liked it, please review~!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I am so glad that testing is done. Only one more week left then I can leave the prison for teens, otherwise known as junior-high. I feel like my last chapter was meh, so I hope this one makes up for it~**

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

"I thought the movie was good, how about you?" Allen nods his head with a small smile, "Have you started Christmas shopping yet?" Lavi takes a sip from his coffee, not looking towards Allen as he looks around the almost-filled shop. Allen puts his own drink on the table and looks up at Lavi, glad to be out of the cold.

"Not really; it's crossed my mind a few times, but I haven't had the chance to get around to it with everything that's been going on." Lavi nods his head and finally looks at Allen as he takes another sip. "What about you, Lavi?"

"I've gotten something for Lenalee and gramps, but that's it. Which sucks since Christmas is next week…" He scratches the back of his neck awkwardly and smiles a bit, "Maybe we should get started on that, huh?" Allen nods in agreement and they get up from their seats before leaving the warm shop. As soon as they open the doors, they're met with the cold, bitter wind awaiting them. After getting back into the car and warming up a little, Allen speaks.

"Where should we start?" Lavi starts the car while saying something about the mall down the street. Allen nods his head and looks out his window, watching a little child pointing at something in a store window excitedly. His mother nods her head and says something to the little boy, making him smile and jump in joy as they start walking down the sidewalk. Allen smiles himself and keeps his eyes out the window as Lavi starts driving down the street. He remembers Christmas when he was little, he would always get one gift from Mana, but that was more than enough for him.

"Hey, Allen," Lavi pulls him out of his thoughts and makes a small sound, showing that he had heard him, "When's your birthday?" Allen looks towards him and gives him a look. "I was just thinking; in the time that we have known you-meaning Lenalee, Yu, and I-we haven't celebrated your birthday and you never mentioned it…" He trailed off, hoping that Allen got the hint.

"Oh, yeah… Well, since I don't know my actual birth date, Mana gave me one. He told me that my birthday was on Christmas since that was the day he took me in." Allen bites on the inside of his cheek, making his lips go to the side as he looks at the road ahead of him.

"Really? Why haven't you told anyone?" Lavi glances at Allen with a frown on his face, sad that his smaller friend didn't say anything about his birthday being so close.

"I celebrated my birthday with Mana when I was little, but it wasn't anything big, so I'm used to overlooking it." Allen brushes a few strands of pale hair behind his ear, "I never really celebrated it with Cross; he would just give me something, say 'happy birthday,' and we would get back to whatever we were busy with at the moment."

"Well, it's different now. You know we'd make time for you, even if it's on Christmas." Lavi grabs Allen's hand and intertwines their fingers, letting their hands rest between them.

"Everyone is already so busy, I don't want to get in the way." Allen reasons, staring at their joined hands.

"Well, we have to do _something_ for your birthday!" Lavi insists, glancing at Allen with a smile, "It doesn't have to be anything big, just a small get-together." Allen sighs after a moment, knowing that Lavi wasn't going to let this go.

"Fine, Lavi, only if you promise to not make a bid deal out of it!" Lavi smiles in response and before Allen could call him out on it, Lavi stops the car and jumps out, "Lavi!"

"Come on Allen!" Lavi calls for him, ignoring the demands of his friend as he gets out of the car with a pout on his face. Lavi locks the doors with the remote after Allen slams the door shut. Allen follows Lavi into the mall entrance, grateful for the warm air inside to get rid of the cold numbness on his exposed skin. "Where do you want to start?"

"How about we start looking for something for Kanda? He's most likely going to be the hardest to look for and it's easier to get the tough ones done first." Lavi nods his head and they start walking down the huge corridors, looking into the window of a store every now and then. Forty-five minutes later, they plop down onto a wooden bench, letting out sounds of frustration.

"I didn't know it was going to be _this _hard!" Lavi leans back, letting his head hang over the side. Allen lets out a sigh and looks around at the stores again, hoping to see something that might interest their samurai friend.

"Maybe we should call Lenalee and ask her to suggest some things." Lavi pulls himself up, sitting forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

"That's admitting defeat and I refuse to do so!" He abruptly gets up, startling Allen from the sudden movement. Lavi looks around, determined to find something for a certain grumpy, long-haired teen. "There!" Lavi pulls Allen up, causing him to wince, but he doesn't notice it, too focused on the store that caught his eye. Lavi slows down a little once in front of the store and puts his hand in Allen's. "This is perfect!" Allen looks up at the items in the weird store Lavi dragged him into and his eyes widen.

"Are these… Japanese weapons?" He looks around, his eyes stopping on one weapon in particular. It has a long, silver, wooden shaft and at the top of it is a curved blade. On the other side is a white ribbon, almost as long as the shaft, simply knotted there.

"Yup! This is the only store left with anything remotely interesting enough for Yu." Lavi pulls Allen more towards the back, where they keep the katanas.

"I don't think getting Kanda _another _weapon is a good idea…" Allen deadpans, looking at Lavi like he lost his mind. 'If it isn't gone already…'

"I know that! But I thinking that we should get him a new sheath. Have you seen the one he has now?" Lavi stops both of them in front of a wall covered in all kinds of swords, short and long.

"You mean that pathetic excuse of a cover for a sword he keeps strapped to his waist?" Allen remembers it; it looks so old and not even 'antique old!' No, the kind of old where you should just throw it away, no matter how much money you spent on it.

"Yeah, that one. He got it with Mugen when he was little, but I don't think it was the original one." He studies a few before moving on to the next row, "The sword and sheath should be able to withstand the same amount of time without getting all F'ed up like that." Allen nods his head and helps Lavi look through the different swords, looking for a suitable enough sheath.

"How about this one?" Allen picks up a katana, pulling out the sword and handing the sheath to Lavi. It's a sleek, black with silver on the ends of it.

"It's perfect! Hey, be careful with that…" Lavi nervously looks at Allen who's swinging the sword around, like it was a baton or something.

"Huh? Oh, it's fine." Allen tosses the sword slightly in the air before balancing it on two fingers, the blade up. "I know how to work with weapons and all the tricks I know from being a clown just adds to the fun." Allen's face lights up when a small smile grows the longer he balances the sword.

"Okay, just don't drop it or anything… Also, give me some of your money so I can go pay for this. We'll both pay and we can say it's from both of us, okay?" Allen lets the sword drop into his hands with a nod before pulling out his wallet and tossing it to Lavi.

"How are you going to get just the cover?" Lavi hands Allen the sheath and Allen slides the katana back into it.

"I tell the people up front the ID number and ask for just the cover." Lavi says while pointing to a small sticker by the holder for the sword with numbers on it. "Come on, let's go." Allen puts the katana back and follows Lavi around the clusters of weapons to the front where the cash register is. Lavi rings the bell multiple times and waits a moment. When about two minutes pass, he lets out a disgruntled sound, "What the hell?" He leans over the counter and looks around for anyone before his eyes land on a door.

"Lavi, I'll be back. There's something I wan to look at in the store real quick." Lavi pulls away from the counter and looks at Allen.

"Yeah, that's fine. If you're not back in a few minutes, I'm going to look for you. I'll get the whole mall to search for you if I have to!" He calls out as Allen leaves the front, towards the back with a grin on his face.

"He's really silly…" Allen maneuvers around the walls and aisles of weapons until he reaches the back again, where the silver weapon is. He walks forward and picks it off the wall, being careful not to get the ribbon caught on anything. Stepping back from the wall, he brings the blade towards his face, looking at it from all angles. Allen puts the weapon standing straight next to him and notices that it's a quite a few inches taller than him. He makes it do a few twirls before letting it land in both hands, taking in how light it is even with the big blade on the end. "What is this called…?" He mumbles to himself, jumping when a voice starts talking.

"It's called a naginata. It's usually used for Japanese martial arts." Allen turns around with the weapon, naginata, held tightly in his grasp. He sees an older man, his arms covered in tattoos, looking at him with a slight smirk. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you like that. I just came back from one of the other stores and I overheard you." Allen looks down slightly, taking in the appearance of the man, and notices the shopping bag in his hand.

"No, it's okay… Are you the owner of the store?" He nods his head and Allen sees even more tattoos on his neck, "Well, my friend is trying to buy something up front and it's been a minute or two."

"Well, that's what I get for hiring some lazy-ass teens who'd rather play with the weapons then sell them. Thanks kid." He waves his hand slightly and rushes to the front. Allen puts the weapon back and slowly makes his way to the front, remembering Lavi's threat to have the whole mall search for him.

"Once again, sorry about that. The brats I have working here left a while ago without saying anything, so I'm guessing they quit." The man Allen bumped into earlier was explaining to Lavi while handing him a long, skinny box, "If they didn't quit then they're definitely fired."

"Not a problem, man." Lavi says with a smile before looking back at Allen and attempting a wink, but Allen got the idea. "Those are some sick tattoos, which one is the latest?" He gestures towards his arms and the man pulls down the collar of his shirt, revealing an inked sentence running across his collarbone.

"It says 'Not all who wander are lost' in Latin." He pulls his collar back up with a smile, "I know it's kind of unoriginal, but I grew up with those words drilled into my head repeatedly by my Grandfather." Lavi nods his head and steps back from the counter, tossing Allen his wallet back.

"I know how that feels." Lavi laughs, putting the box under his arm. "You ready?" Allen nods his head and they start heading out after saying their goodbyes. "Okay, so we have Yu's gift. You wanna start looking for something for your uncle now?"

"And Tyki. I have to thank him somehow for letting me stay at his house and getting Neah in touch with me." Allen looks around the stores before turning to Lavi who's also looking around. "Lavi, why don't we split for a while? I know that you still have some shopping to do and I still need to get something for you." Lavi looks over with a smile.

"Sure Allen. We'll meet in the food court in about an hour, okay?" He hugs him and kisses his cheek before walking away and into one of the stores. Allen walks the opposite way and into a random store, looking around for anything to catch his attention. About an hour later, Allen walks out of a different store with multiple bags on his arms. He pulls out his iPod and looks at the time before cursing.

"I have no time left and I still need to get something for Lavi!" He frantically looks around before running into a jewelry store. Lavi seems to be the kind of guy who likes jewelry. He walks to the section for guys and looks around for anything that Lavi would like. His eyes stop on the rings and looks through them. 'It can't be anything to gaudy; he likes the attention on _him_, not what he's wearing…' It's true, Lavi really is an attention-whore. He stops at a little box and sees two silver rings in it. They had wide bands and were just two rings of metal. "Perfect!" Allen calls over a store worker and buys the small gift. He rushes to the food court to find Lavi sitting there with two drinks on the table.

"There you are! I was starting to think that you got lost or something." Lavi says as Allen takes a seat across form him and takes a large sip of the drink in front of him.

"Sorry, I had to get something and it was last-minute." Allen glances at the bags Lavi has sitting on the floor by his legs. They had about the same amount, give or take a few. He also notices one really long box, leaning against the small table so it doesn't take up so much room on the floor. "Did you get everything you needed?"

"Yup! I got everything finished. I feel so proud of myself; usually it takes me at least a week to get everything, but I got all of it –excluding Lenalee and Panda jiji- today!" Allen smiles at his enthusiasm and takes another drink of the soda Lavi bought. "We should probably head back, the snow started again and it's starting to get bad." Allen turns his head to look out the giant window the mall has in the food court and sees the beginning of a blizzard starting to form.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." They both get up and finish their drinks before zipping their coats up as far as they can go. They collect their gifts, putting all the small bags into the bigger ones to have less to carry, and heading towards the mall exit. Once outside, they rush to Lavi's car and toss everything into the back seat before getting into the front and slamming the doors.

"Jesus, it's cold!" Lavi turns the heat up all the way after getting the car started to warm them up, "How did it turn that cold so quickly?" He mumbles to himself, rubbing his arms up and down. Allen just stares at him in amusement before taking off his coat and laying it on his lap.

"Here, let me see your hands." Allen orders and Lavi stops rubbing himself for a moment and gives Allen his hands. Allen takes off his gloves and wraps his hands around Lavi's, making them warm almost instantly. "Is this better?"

"Yeah, thanks." Lavi sighs and looks up at Allen, "How are you so warm and I'm cold?" He whines out with a slight pout, causing Allen to laugh.

"I have high blood-circulation, so I'm always warm. That's why I don't layer up as much as you do." He brings Lavi's hands up to his cheeks, "See? Even my face is warm after being in the snow."

"You weirdo." Allen sticks out his tongue, keeping Lavi's hands on his face.

"You're just jealous that I'm warm." Lavi stays quiet, staring at Allen. "Lavi?" Allen asks after a moment, his hands unmoving even after Allen let his hands drop to his lap. Lavi moves closer and kisses him on the lips, a short peck. It soon turns into multiple kisses, then into longer ones. Lavi licks Allen's bottom lip, making Allen gasp silently and Lavi takes the chance to delve into his mouth, taking in Allen's sweet taste. A moment later they break for air and Lavi finally lets go of Allen. "What was that for?" Allen asks, breathless and with a smile. Lavi shrugs and laughs a little.

"It felt like I needed to, so I did. Did you not want it?" Allen blushes and shakes his head, not meeting Lavi's eye.

"No, it was just random, that's all." Allen looks up at the road, seeing it starting the snow starting to get higher. "Don't you think we should start moving before we're stuck in the snow?"

"Oh yeah!" Lavi says, having forgotten that they were in the mall parking lot with a blizzard about to start. The car has gotten warm enough and Lavi starts driving, trying to get out of the parking lot. They make it to Tyki's house and Lavi gets out of the car and helps Allen get his bags to the door. "I'll see later, okay?" Lavi gives him a quick kiss on the lips before leaving to the car and escaping the cold. Allen watches him drive off before opening the door and bringing in his gifts.

"Neah! I'm back!" He shuts the door and unzips his coat, dropping the bags in the hallway to pick up later. Allen shrugs off his coat and lays it on a chair in the dining room on his way to the kitchen. Pouring himself a glass of milk, he looks around for his uncle but sees no sign of him. "Neah?" He calls out again before seeing a piece of paper on the counter.

_Had to go pick Tyki up from work._

_Should be back in a while if we don't get stuck in the blizzard._

_-Neah _

"So it is a blizzard." Allen throws the note away after reading it over again to make sure he didn't miss anything and drinks the rest of his milk. He rinses it out and puts it in the dishwasher. On his way back to his room, he picks up his coat and the bags he left. Allen sees the attic stairs pulled out again with the light on and after he drops all the items off, kicking his shoes off in the process, he goes up into the attic. He's met with the same exact thing as last time, except the shadow is already there. Allen ignores the shadow and goes to the piano to sit on the bench. He plays a few keys before playing the song from before.

Once again, the lyrics fill his head and he can't help but sing them aloud. He closes his eyes, ignoring everything in the outside world and playing his heart out. The song seems to calm Allen's nerves, making him feel light. Allen slows in his playing when he feels a small weight on his shoulder. He opens his eyes, but keeps playing as he looks over at the golem that chose to use his shoulder as a perch.

"There you are Tim. I was wondering where you went." Timcanpy flaps his wings in response and goes onto the piano, watching Allen's hands on the keys as they move up and down. Allen finishes the song and picks Tim up, "Where have you been?" Tim flies up, over to the couch and Allen's eyes widen at the sight of another person. The couch is facing away from the piano, so all Allen can see is the head and shoulders of the person; the hoodie they're wearing is up, not allowing Allen to see who it is. He stands up from the bench and slowly makes his way around the couch. "Cross…? Is it really you?"

"Yeah, it's me." He stands up from the couch, pulling down his gray hood, "I-" Cross doesn't get to finish his sentence for Allen had latched his arms around Cross' chest, causing him to fall back onto the couch.

"What's wrong with you?" Allen shouts into Cross' chest, tears starting to fall from his eyes, "I thought you were dead! How could you leave me like that?" His knuckles turn white from the death-grip on the hoodie and Cross lets out a sigh. He wraps his arms around the small teen, waiting for him to calm down a little.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you like that." Cross pries Allen's arms off of him and makes him look up, "The Earl sent some of his goons after me and they caught me off guard. They took me, hoping to find out where you were, but I got away." He runs a hand through Allen's hair, a trick he learned to calm down the boy when he was younger, "I had to lay low for a while, let things cool down before I could come back. I would never leave you like that." Allen nods his head, letting out a small laugh.

"You know, everyone thinks you're dead now. Imagine their faces when they see you." Cross lets his own laugh fill the room before looking down at Allen with a serious expression. "What?" Allen asks as he watches Cross' emotions change from angry, to pissed off, then to worried all in a few seconds.

"Does it hurt?" Allen gives him a look and Cross gestures towards his chest. "How do- Wait, are you the one who took me to our old house?"

"Yeah. I found you getting cut up by some brats from your school. They ran as soon as they saw me and I brought you to the house." He now notices that they're still in the same uncomfortable position from before and sets Allen next to him, off of his lap, "Does it hurt?" Cross repeats.

"Only if I move around too much. Other than that, I'm fine, you don't have to worry." Cross nods his head, staring at a little bit of bandages peeking out from under Allen's shirt.

"Why did they use _that_ word?" Cross doesn't use the word 'fag' because he doesn't want to upset the boy. Allen flushes a bit, looking down at the floor.

"Um, probably because they saw me with… Lavi…" Allen cheeks turn a shade darker and when he doesn't get a response from Cross, he chances looking to meet his eyes. He's met with a pissed-off looking Cross. This is what Allen was afraid of. He knows how over-protective Cross can be and sometimes, he can take it a bit too far.

"You mean that red-head with the eyepatch?" Cross' eyebrow twitches and Allen shifts a bit in his seat.

"Yes… But, he's really nice! He doesn't force me to do anything and I trust him!" He quickly reassures, knowing that he's going to start judging Lavi. "Neah seems to like him and you've already him, so you know what he's like. You don't have to worry about meeting anyone new who could be against us." By now, Allen's just rambling, coming up with excuses for Cross not to hate Lavi for any reason. Cross rolls his eyes and puts his hand over Allen's mouth, covering half his face, and effectively shutting him up.

"I get it, he's a good kid. But if he gives me one reason or chance to shoot his ass, I'm taking it." Allen nods his head and hugs Cross again. "Speaking of shooting, where is my gun?"

"Oh, it's downstairs in my room. I keep it under my pillow, just in case." Allen voice is casually as he stands from the couch. Cross raises an eyebrow, but says nothing about it, knowing how paranoid the white-haired teen can be sometimes. They both go down the stairs and close the door shut after getting the lights. Allen runs into his room and gets the gun as Cross waits in the hallway. "Here you go." Allen hands it to him and Cross immediately starts inspecting it.

"Why are some of the bullets missing?" Cross asks while looking in the cylinder. Allen lets out a sigh and looks at Cross' hands, not meeting his gaze.

"You missed a lot when you left. It seems everything likes to go wrong when you're not present." Cross raises an eyebrow and follows Allen into the living room. Before he could start explaining, the front door opens, letting in some of the cold air.

"Allen, I'm back with Tyki." Neah calls out, stopping dead in his tracks when he comes into the living room with Tyki right behind him.

"Hi Neah. Look who's back." Allen gestures towards Cross and he waves at the two frozen in their spots with a smirk on his face. Tyki seems to get over his shock and nudges Neah in the arm.

"You owe me fifty bucks."

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**I know, it's a bit late, but I had to get some school work done so I can get turn it in. The ending is a little rushed because I had to finish it quickly (which is also why it's shorter than usual), so please excuse it for this one time! After this week, I'm absolutely done with school, so I can update more frequently! Also, I'm really excited for tomorrow~ I'm going to a Katy Perry concert in Maryland and it's going to be awesome~! That's about it, so yeah… Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

It's Christmas Eve now and Cross had succeeded in making a full-grown man cry (Komui) and getting hit numerous times (Neah, Tyki, Lavi, Lenalee, Kanda, Klaud, and Komui after he had calmed down). Allen did nothing to help the man, thinking since he personally didn't want to hurt Cross for leaving like that, he would leave that privilege to his friends.

Allen stayed home from school for the rest of the week to finish healing and to be able to get everything sorted in his life again. The nightmares kept up and Allen would wake up with some sort of self-inflicted injury on himself, the newest being scratches around his stomach and on his thighs. The cuts on his chest healed enough to take the bandages off and Allen saw, to his relief, the cuts weren't as deep as he thought they were, so they won't leave scars.

Neah was able to get a house close to Tyki's and they are now in the process of getting the rest of the boxes into the house, which has taken a while since Neah's moving van came with all of his junk from his first home.

"This box goes into the living room, right?" Cross lifts a heavy box, making it look like he's carrying just the box with nothing inside.

"What's inside of it?" Allen asks, wobbling over to the taller man and peeking inside the box. "Yeah, just place it behind the couch with the other boxes." Cross nods and goes inside while Allen continues supervising everything. Allen was forced to take it easy because of the scratches on his legs and stomach. They just happened the other night and Neah told him that he was to just supervise the moving, not actually acting in it. Allen persuaded him that he was fine, just a bit sore, and that he could still help carry the light boxes in. All the light boxes were carried in at the beginning, so Allen was left to stand around and watch people.

"Hey Allen!" Lavi races towards the white-haired teen from across the yard, "How are things coming along?" He throws an arm over his shoulders.

"Everything's fine so far. I'm just kinda mad at Neah for making me watch these people and tell them where to put everything." Allen crosses his arms across his stomach, being careful of the scratches there, "Worst of all, Tyki and Cross backed him up! I feel so betrayed." He sniffles a bit and Lavi pulls him closer with a smile on his face.

"You know they're just looking out for you. They don't want you to over-exert yourself." Allen lets out a sound of frustration and Lavi's smile grows. "How are the scratches?" He looks down at Allen's stomach and thighs as if he could see them through his clothes.

"They're fine. I wrapped them up, so they should heal without any trouble."

"The only problem is that it looks like something is stuck up your ass when you walk." Allen flushes and shrugs Lavi's arm off before smacking it. "I'm just speaking the truth."

"Oh shut up. Go move some boxes." Lavi quickly kisses his lips before running to the moving van. Allen blushes an even darker shade and pouts at Lavi as he walks by before telling him where to put the box. He rubs at his arms, shivering slightly at the breeze. 'Why did we do this in the middle of winter? At least it's not snowing.'

They finish getting the boxes in and everyone huddles inside to get away from the cold. The house is big enough for a small family, so everybody doesn't have to squish together to make room, thankfully.

"God, it's freezing outside." Neah mumbles as he brings out a tray full of hot cocoa with mugs he dug out of one of the boxes.

"Well, it is winter; I'd be worried if it wasn't cold outside." Allen adds with a smile, thanking Neah for the hot drink. "Did Lenalee and Kanda not want to come?" He asks Lavi before Neah could say anything.

"They wanted to come, but Tiedoll kept Kanda for some last-minute decorating and Komui dragged Lenalee off somewhere before I could get an answer out of her." Lavi takes a sip from the mug, taking in every bit of warmth he can get from the hot drink. Allen nods his head and holds the mug in his hands, not really thirsty. The adults start talking about some business, Allen's not really paying attention, and he puts the mug on the table before standing up.

"Lavi, come on, lets go to my room. I want to start unpacking." Allen quietly says to Lavi, not wanting to disturb the adults in the room. Lavi nods his head and follows Allen into the hallway, mug in hand.

They enter a room filled with only an uncovered bed, a few boxes, and some shelves. The room has a bay window and hardwood floors, no carpeting whatsoever. The floor is chilly against their naked feet (they took their shoes off at the front door) as they make their way to the first pile of boxes.

"It's a really nice room. It's hard to come across hardwood floors nowadays." Lavi comments and Allen nods his head.

"Neah said he didn't have to fight much for the house though. Since it's Christmas Eve, no one is really moving around." Lavi walks up behind Allen and carefully wraps his arms around his stomach, being mindful of the scratches.

"I love you." Allen tenses for a second before relaxing again. He turns in Lavi's grip to face Lavi with a sad look on his face.

"Lavi-"

"I know you probably don't feel the same." Lavi stops Allen, "Not because you don't like me, but because I know it's hard for you to trust someone like that. I just want you to know that I love you, so when you feel comfortable enough, you can say it in confidence knowing that your feelings are reciprocated." Allen smiles and hugs Lavi close before giving him a small kiss on the lips.

"Thank you." Lavi steals his lips again, but Allen pulls away before it could get too far. "If Neah comes in here and sees that nothing is unpacked, he'll hurt you. Help me get this shelf moved." They move the tall shelf over to the corner of the room and fill it with Allen's books. They leave one shelf empty for the stereo and move onto the boxes by the door, wanting to clear out the doorway before someone trips on the clutter.

Lavi opens up one of the boxes on top and is met with multiple shoe boxes and frames filled with pictures. Most of the photos are of strange looking people in different poses, as if they were playing around.

He picks one up of a man with hair all over his body and a sign behind him that says '_See the amazing wolf-boy!',_ "God Allen, the circus had some weird people in it, huh?" Allen walks over from the closet, leaving the clothes on the floor, and looks at the photos in the box with a smile.

"Well, it _was _the circus, Lavi. The people there are supposed to be weird, or they wouldn't have a job." Allen picks up another picture of a woman with a full-grown beard, "Despite their appearances, they were all really nice people, and we treated each other like family; a big, dysfunctional family, at that." They continued to unpack the boxes late into the afternoon and succeeded in getting all of Allen's belongings into their rightful place just as the sun was starting to set.

"I should probably get back before Gramps gets mad." Lavi raises his arms above his head and arches his back, reminding Allen of a cat when they stretch, while letting out a huge yawn. "I'll see you tomorrow Allen, Merry Christmas!" Lavi gives Allen one more kiss before leaving the room and Allen can hear him saying goodbye and happy holidays to the adults down the hall.

Allen looks around the room once more and, feeling satisfied, leaves the room to the kitchen where Neah is putting away dishes. "Need any help?" Neah turns around, slightly surprised before settling again.

"If you want to, that'd be great, thanks." Allen gives him a smile before opening a small box and putting away the silverware inside. A few hours later, all the boxes in the kitchen have been cleared out and both men are fighting back yawns.

"Let's get to bed; we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." Allen nods while rubbing at his eye, following Neah down the hallway before turning into his room.

"Good night Neah, Merry Christmas." Neah looks at his watch and lets out a laugh.

"Yeah, I guess it is Christmas now. Good night Allen, Merry Christmas." They both go into their own rooms and stay in there even after the sun comes up a few hours later.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**I know this chapter is so freakin' short, but I just wanted to give all of you amazing people to hang onto until I get back into the groove of things. Everything has cooled down in RL, so all I have to**** do is get back into this story… That's why this chapter is so crappy and short and just horrible in general. God, I feel like I've failed all of you by not updating with a decent chapter in what felt like forever ;A; I had the story all planned out and somewhat written in my notebook, but the notebook was stolen by the gnomes that live in my closet (feel free to translate that any way you want). You know what I just noticed? I have 50 reviews for this story and I don't even know why! People love this story, but I just don't understand why when there are much better stories than mine… Thank you everybody for being patient with me and reviewing/favoriting/alerting my story~~!**


	15. Chapter 15

Allen's eyes snap open and he twists around in his sheets, getting himself tangled almost instantly. His breaths come out fast and shallow, his lungs trying to get enough air. He gets his arms free from the constricting cover before getting his legs out and slinging them over the side. Allen's breathing has calmed down some and he glances at the clock on the wall before letting out a sigh.

'Might as well get out of bed…' He stands up, leaning on the wall for a second when a wave of dizziness hits him, and moves across the room to the bathroom door. After taking care of that, he carefully moves across the floor, not wanting to hit anything on the ground, and opens the door, silently slipping out.

Allen shuffles down the hallway and into the kitchen, looking around before deciding on just getting some cereal. He pulls out a bowl from the cupboard and pulls out a spoon from the drawer before moving in front of the refrigerator for the milk. After a short search through the cupboards, he comes up with a box of Cocoa Puffs and fills the bowl on the counter.

As Allen pours the milk into the bowl, he thinks back to what woke him up in the first place. 'Did I have a bad dream? I don't even remember.' Getting lost in his thoughts, some of the white liquid spills over and he quickly lifts his hand up with a curse. The teen wipes up the mess with a paper towel and sets his bowl on the dining room table with the spoon before sitting down.

Neah walks down the hallway while yawning, quirking an eyebrow after seeing the lights are already on in the kitchen. He shuffles in to see Allen eating a bowl of cereal at the table, looking like he's about to pass out straight into the bowl.

The adult smiles slightly and moves into the kitchen, starting the coffee machine, before talking, "Why are you up so early?" Allen slightly jerks and looks at Neah like he just noticed him. He calms down and swirls his spoon in his bowl with a shrug.

"Don't know…" Neah smirks at his tired voice and pulls out two mugs. They stay in silence for a while, one too tired to talk, the other content with the quietness, until the older places a mug in front of the droopy-eyed boy.

"To wake you up." He answers the unspoken question and Allen nods his thanks before taking a big gulp of the warm drink. They both sit at the dining room table until a knock brings them out of their peaceful moment. Allen sits up but Neah places a hand on his shoulder, signifying that he'll get it. Allen gratefully nods and watches Neah walk out of the kitchen/dining room area and down the hall to get the door.

He looks through the peep hole and opens the door with a grin, letting the two men in with a 'Merry Christmas!'

"Hey, is Allen is still asleep?" Cross asks, walking past Tyki and Neah. Neah responds, telling him his in the dining room, taking Tyki's coat from him and hanging it.

Tyki hands Neah a long black gift box with silver ribbon tied around it. Neah smiles and quickly unwraps the small gift, his smile growing once he sees what's inside.

He pulls out a long silver chained necklace with a matching silver treble clef. "It's beautiful Tyki, thank you." He quickly hugs the man before telling him to help him put it on, the smile never leaving his face. Tyki clips the chain together and turns Neah around to see how his gift looks like on his long-time friend/lover.

They never _officially_ said that they were together and they never made their affections too public. They never bothered to put a label on what they had, and they were both happy with it.

Tyki quickly kisses Neah before going to the dining room where Allen was admiring the gift cross had gotten him. Cross had gotten him something similar to his own gift, but it was an eighth note and the one side was white, the other black. Allen kept thanking Cross as he put it on and held the charm in his hand, looking down at it.

Timcanpy flies to the table from Cross' shoulder and looks at the necklace before losing interest and settling himself on Allen's shoulder, receiving a pat. Allen stands up and gives Cross a hug before leaving his bowl and mug in the sink and excusing himself to his room to get dressed.

His phone starts ringing as soon as he closes his door behind him. 'Nice timing.' Allen grabs the cell phone and flips it open while walking to his closet to get some clothes for the day. "Hello?"

"_Merry Christmas Allen! What time are you going over to Tyki's?" _Allen slides out of his clothes, keeping the cell phone sandwiched between his shoulder and ear.

"Merry Christmas Lavi." He pulls up a pair of dark ripped jeans and puts on a belt before looking for a shirt, "Why would I be going over to Tyki's when he's over here?"

"_No one's told you yet? Well, the adults decided that we're going to have the Christmas party at Tyki's house since it's the closest house for everybody that's going. So what time are you going?" _Allen holds the phone in his hand as he puts his arms through the shirt and pulling it down before replying.

"I don't know Lavi, I'll have to go ask them. Hang on a moment." Allen moves to his door and opens it, seeing Tyki standing there with his fist raised. "Tyki, are we going to your house for the Christmas party?"

"Yeah; actually, that's what I was going to tell you. We're leaving in a few minutes, so if you bought any presents for any of your friends, bring them along." Allen nods his head and moves back into his room, pulling out a bag full of boxes from under his bed.

"Did you hear that Lavi, or do you want me to repeat it?"

"_No, I got it! See you at Tyki's!" _Lavi hangs up before Allen has a chance to say bye and he shakes his head. Allen puts his phone in his pocket and rushes out of the room, presents in hand. He follows Tyki out to the hallway and everyone leaves the house and pile up in the two cars in the driveway, one Tyki's and the other Neah's.

They park in the driveway and as soon as Allen leaves the car, he's attacked by a mass of red and green. "Allen~!" It takes the smaller teen a moment to collect his bearings and to realize that his older friend is currently attached to his torso and his other friends are walking towards him.

"Hey guys, you're early." Allen glances at Neah and Tyki walking into the house before returning his attention to his friends.

"Yeah, we're here to take you out while the adults get the house ready for the Christmas party." Lenalee says, a big grin on her face.

Cross comes over and takes the bag from Allen before he drops it, "I'll keep these safe for you, go have fun." Timcanpy lands on Allen's shoulder before Cross takes his leave into the house after Allen said his thanks.

"Where are we going?" Allen asks once they piled into Kanda's car and started down the road.

Lavi smiles before pulling out a black bandana and covering it over Allen's eyes, tying it into a knot after making sure it was on tight enough.

"H-Hey! Lavi, w-what are you doing?" Allen lifts his hands up to take off the blindfold, suddenly nervous, but Lavi takes his hands in his bigger ones.

"It's okay Allen. We're taking you somewhere as a surprise for your birthday!" Allen can hear the smile in his voice and he nods after a moment, letting his arms drop onto his lap.

"O-Okay, how long will it take to get there?" Lavi goes to put his arm around Allen's shoulder's but stops short at the sight of a teeth-bearing Timcanpy, currently growling at him.

'He probably can sense Allen's nervousness.' Lavi keeps his hands to himself for now, "It won't take long, about 15 minutes, I think?" He looks towards Lenalee for confirmation and continues after a nod, "Yeah, 15 minutes. In the meantime, could you possibly calm down Timcanpy so I can be near you without worrying if he's going to bite me or not?"

Allen chuckles before reaching up to his shoulder and picking up the golem, placing him on his lap and petting his wings. "It's your fault that he's mad at you. You basically lured me into Kanda's car before blindfolding me and kidnapping me."

"Hey, it's not my fault that you own an over-protective golem!" Lavi wines and the car fills with Allen's and Lenalee's laughs.

"So, Allen, you're turning seventeen today, right?" Allen nods his head and Lenalee continues, "Why don't you have a learner's permit then? Don't you have to be at least sixteen to get one?"

"That's true, but Cross and I never had the time to do stuff like that. We were always on the move, so there really was no point."

"Why did you guys decide to suddenly settle down, anyway?"

"Cross thought it was best for my mentality if we finally stopped moving from place to place for a while." Allen chuckles, "This is actually the longest we've stayed in one place. We chose this town because it had a lot of Cross' old friends and it was the safest place he could think of."

Before anymore could be said, Lavi points towards the front window and startles Allen by yelling out, "We're here!" He gets a slap to the head from Kanda and Lenalee before retrieving back to his seat.

Lavi helps Allen step out of the car and follows Kanda into the building, Lenalee already inside to make sure everything's ready.

"Don't let me trip!" Allen laughs out, having almost fallen down, and would've if Lavi wasn't helping him across the slippery road.

"Don't worry, you're fine." Timcanpy flies above their heads and follows Lavi as he leads his master into the building and into a lobby.

Allen fingers at the blindfold, "Can I take this off yet?" Lavi shakes his head then remembers that Allen can't see him.

"No, not yet." Lavi nods at Kanda and he nods back before going through one of the doors, leaving the two alone. "How are you doing?"

"A little nervous, but I'm fine." Allen smiles a little, feeling Lavi's thumb stroking his hand while holding it, "When can I take this thing off?"

"When I say so, now stop being impatient; that's my job!" Allen laughs and freezes for a second when he feels something brush along his bottom lip.

"Lavi?" The sensation comes back before something warmer is pressed against his lips, encouraging him to copy the movements. After a moment of hesitation, Allen reciprocates the kiss before the pressure leaves his lips and he stands there a little confused. "Lavi?" he calls out again, only to get no response.

Allen starts feeling the panic rise in his chest before he feels hands grab at his own, tightly holding them, "It's okay Allen. I had to check something really quick."

"Don't do that to me! Do you want me to have a panic attack?" Allen squeezes his hands and Lavi apologizes again while leading him through two doors.

"You can take the blindfold off now." Allen unties the back of the bandana and pulls it away from his eyes, squinting at the bright light.

"Happy Birthday!" Lenalee and Lavi say at the same time, Kanda just standing there with a small smile on his lips.

He looks around his surroundings and sees an ice rink taking up most of the space in the large room. A Zamboni was currently moving across the surface of the ice, resurfacing it.

Allen looks towards his group of friends who were all standing in a group by a counter to his right, "An ice rink?" He doesn't sound disappointed, just curious as to why he's there.

"Yeah! We did some… 'investigating' and found out that you have never been ice-skating." Lenalee exclaims, holding up a pair of skates she picked up from the counter, "We rented out this place for a few hours so you would be able to have your first ice-skating experience with your friends!"

Allen opens his mouth to say something, but Lavi beats him to it, "If you're going to say anything along the lines of 'I don't deserve this,' or 'you shouldn't have wasted your money to do this,' I will tell Komui that you hurt Lenalee's feelings by denying her gift." He points to the said girl and Lenalee quickly turned her expression into that of a kicked puppy, wide eyes and everything.

"Allen's so mean! He wouldn't accept our gift and left the building, saying that he didn't have time for 'something as stupid as this.'" By now, the short-haired girl had streams of tears running down her cheeks, slightly ruining her mascara. Lenalee schools her expression and smirks at Allen's disbelieving face.

Allen admits defeat and slumps his shoulders, "You people are so mean." He shuffles towards Lenalee and takes the ice-skates offered to him with a grumble, making his friends' smiles grow (in Kanda's case, his smirk grew).

They all took off their shoes and laced on the rented skates, waiting for the Zamboni to finish the last area of ice. They get the clear to go ahead and Lavi is the first one to dash onto the ice, going straight to the center and looking back at his three friends. Lenalee is the next one into the rink, but she takes her time. She skates around with Lavi while waiting for Kanda and Allen to finish getting their skates on since Kanda was the one that got stuck teaching Allen how to tie them properly.

"Then you tuck them in like that, got it Moyashi?" Allen glares at him for the nickname, but nods nonetheless. He stands up from the bleachers he was sitting on and follows Kanda to the gate of the rink, holding onto the wall while trying to get onto the ice.

Allen's footing slips a couple of times before he finally has a grip on the ice with his skates and he lets go of the wall, Kanda watching him the whole time. He stands there for a moment, getting used to the cold air before looking at Kanda, "What do I do now?" Kanda holds back an amused smirk and moves towards the white-haired teen.

"Have you ever roller-skated?" Allen pauses for a moment before nodding his head, remembering once he had a pair of roller skates when he was with Mana, "It's basically the same thing, just on ice." Allen nods again, and tries moving away from the wall, only to fall flat on his ass. This time, Kanda doesn't hold anything back and lets out a few laughs.

"Oh, shut up BaKanda, and help me up!" He holds his arms out towards him, but Kanda just smirks and crosses his arms over his chest.

"No, I'm good. I think you look fine down there."

Allen frowns at him before smiling. Before Kanda could ask what he was smiling about, he found himself staring straight up into the fluorescent lights covering the ceiling.

"Oh, did you fall, BaKanda?" Allen lets one of his own rare smirks loose and looks innocently at Kanda when he glares at him. Allen manages to get up by going onto his knees and standing, flailing his arms a bit to regain his balance.

Kanda glares at him again before standing up, much quicker than Allen, and nudging him slightly before skating off. Allen keeps standing by quickly grasping onto the wall near him and huffs at Kanda's retreating form.

Lavi comes over with a big grin on his face, "What was that about?" Allen waves him off, moving away from the wall once again and slowly skating around the rink, Lavi next to him to catch him if he falls.

"I think I got it now, Lavi, you can back off a bit." Allen laughs, and Lavi raises his arms in a surrendering gesture before skating towards Kanda. Allen moves a little faster, remembering what Kanda said about it being like roller skating except with ice. 'I used to love to go skating with Mana…' Allen loses himself in his thoughts, still skating around the rink as his friends watch him.

"He's pretty good for being a first-timer." Lavi comments and Lenalee nods in agreement. Allen finally shakes himself out of his memories and stops near the center of the rink, looking around. His eyes stop at his group of friends and give them a look that says 'what?' Lavi quickly skates over and glomps his smaller friend before spinning around a few times and setting him down again.

Allen's grip on Lavi's coat was making his knuckles white, but he paid that no mind, "Lavi, don't do that again! Is today 'give Allen a heart attack' day?" Lavi just keeps smiling as Allen yells at him. His one-sided argument dies down after a while and many apologies from Lavi, that shit-eating grin never leaving his face.

"Hey Kanda?" He looks over to his girlfriend who doesn't take her eyes off of the two boys in the middle of the rink, "What do you think they're hiding from us? I know that Allen said he'll tell us when ready, but don't you feel kind of left out? We're friends; we're supposed to know everything about each other…" Kanda just stares at Lenalee for a moment before moving next to her and embracing her. She quickly returns the hug and looks up into Kanda's dark eyes.

"I know you feel left out from the loop, I do too," Kanda says, letting his walls come down, only for her, "But if he said that he's going to tell us when he's comfortable, then he will. The only reason the Usagi knows is because he forced it out of him and the situation called for the Moyashi to tell him."

Lenalee lets out a long sigh, looking back at the two teens currently skating around. She smiles slightly and lets out a small giggle causing Kanda to raise an eyebrow in question. The short-haired girl smiles up at him and whispers to him before skating off to the other two, "They look like a couple, don't they?"

Kanda stands there for a moment, watching as Lenalee glomps both of the boys when she gets there, causing the three of them to fall onto the ice. He shakes his head before quickly skating over to help Lenalee get untangled from the small mass of people.

About two hours later, they return the skates and hang around the lobby. The room is quickly filling with people, their time with the rink over so other teens and kids can skate freely. Lavi and Lenalee left to get the food, the other two being forced to sit down and make amends after their little fight on the ice. They had already forgiven each other, but stayed stubborn towards each other for appearance's sake.

"I'm going to the bathroom." Kanda grunts at him, saying that he had heard. Allen thought about making a comment about how his brain is obviously underdeveloped, hence the small vocabulary, but chose against it. He leaves his coat on the chair, getting overheated, before making a beeline to the restrooms. Allen enters the bathroom and goes to one of the urinals, relieving himself. He pulls up his pants and buttons them while moving over to the sinks.

Someone walks in and passes him, giving him a curt nod in greeting. Allen nods back and turns the faucet on the sink before getting some soap into his hands and under the water. The man comes over to the sinks as Allen turns towards the door, but stops when he hears a familiar clicking sound.

"Scream and you get a bullet to the head." The man waits for Allen to nod before continuing, "Turn around and slowly walk away from the door." Allen does as he's told and moves in front of the sinks as the man backs up against the bathroom's wall.

The man seemed to be in his late thirties, early forties with his brown hair slicked back. He's wearing dark gray slacks with a white button-up dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows revealing a tattoo on the inside of his arm.

Allen glares at him once his eyes see the tattoo and the man's face stays emotionless as the gun is aimed at his head. The man opens his mouth to say something, but is stopped when the restroom door is opened.

"Oi, Moyashi, what the hell's taking you so long?" Kanda steps into the bathroom and freezes when he sees someone pointing a gun to his friend.

Before the Akuma could react, Allen pushes the gun up and away from him, causing it to go off. He tries to pull it away from the bigger man, but gets shoved into the sinks behind him, hitting his head on the porcelain and slumping to the ground with a soft thump. Kanda stares at the man as he kicks Allen to make sure he's passed out before the handgun is turned on him.

"Lock the door and toss the sword." Kanda growls and glances at the unconscious Allen before pulling out his sword and throwing it to the side, away from the three men in the restroom. He moves towards the entrance slowly before locking the door and moving back to his spot. The man looks at him for a moment before cocking the gun, "You are useless in my mission." A yell follows his words and Kanda steps back as Allen lunges at the man, causing the gun to go off to the side by Kanda's sword. Kanda immediately goes for the weapon, but falls to the ground as a hand holds his ankle.

Allen is under the man, his head being ground into the floor as the man pulls Kanda towards him. The teen kicks out towards the man, being careful to not hit Allen, but manages to get a few hits to the man currently holding them. He growls before sitting up slightly and pushing his knee in between Allen's shoulders, eliciting a gasp from the smaller male, and holding both of the other's legs, stopping him from moving.

"Let me fucking go, damn it!" Kanda tries to pull away from the man's hands, only to get hit in the head, black dots appearing in his vision. The Akuma takes his chance and leans forward to grab the sword and gun, pressing his knee further into Allen's back causing to him to yell out.

The man leans back and stands up while reattaching the silencer to the gun. Allen weakly gets on all fours and crawls over to Kanda as the man pulls out his cell phone.

Allen coughs a few times, the air coming back to his lungs, before trying to talk, "Kanda? Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine…" His speech is kind of slurred, the effects of the hit to his head making him disoriented. Before Allen could ask anything else, the man is back and is stuffing his phone back into his pocket. He takes Kanda's sword sheath and holds it in two hands before hitting each of the teens over the head, making them pass out. Before Allen and Kanda blacked out completely, they heard a banging and someone yelling at the restroom door and felt themselves being picked up.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**I'm so cruel ending it with a cliffhanger, especially after not updating for the longest time XD Anyway, I'm back with this story~! I've finally gotten back into the hang of things and I will update the next chapter soon! Also, I think there's only like, three chapters left…? Something like that, yeah. So thank you to all the people who stayed with me throughout the end! Please read and review~ **


	16. Chapter 16

"Get it unlocked, come on!" Lavi ushers the younger teen to the door and waits for him to nervously unlock the door before barging into the restroom. He runs to the window and looks out, only catching a glance of the black van and the license plate before it takes off. "Damn it!" Lavi rushes out of the bathroom, ignoring the sight of blood on the sink and floor, and walks up to Lenalee.

"Lavi, where are they?"

"We have to call Cross."

"What? Why?" Lavi doesn't answer, only pulls out his phone and grabs Lenalee's free hand before marching out of the building and into the cold air outside.

"Cross, we need you. Allen and Kanda were kidnapped."

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

Kanda slowly opens his eyes, groaning at the throbbing in his head. It takes a few minutes for his surroundings to become clear and he slowly sits up, pushing himself off the floor to lean against the wall. As he sits there, he assesses his body, feeling for any injuries.

Nothing is broken, and the only thing that really hurts is his head. "I better not have a fucking concussion from that guy hitting me with my own sword." Kanda places his hand on the back of his head where he was hit, feeling for any blood or sore. He only has a small bump and he lets out a small sigh of relief.

Kanda does notice something cold pressing up against his neck and raises his hand to find a metal collar. "What the hell?" His hand moves towards the back and he feels something sticking out, a chain. Kanda turns around to find that the collar is connected to the wall with a thick chain, "The hell? I'm not a fucking dog, you bastards!" A groan from across the room catches Kanda's attention and he watches as a figure slowly rises from the floor. "Moyashi…?" He squints his eyes in the darkness and repeats himself one more time.

"K-Kanda?" He lets out a sigh of relief, glad that it was his friend with him, "What-What's going on?" Allen sits up against the wall, slightly wincing at the pain in his stomach and head.

"I don't know; all I remember is getting hit in the head with my own fucking sword!" Kanda raises his head to the ceiling and yells the last part before facing Allen again and continuing in a normal tone, "Then I woke up here with a huge headache."

"Oh…" Allen silently responds while checking over his own body. There's dried blood on the back of his head and his stomach stills aches from the kick he received.

He looks around his current prison and narrows his eyes to try and see into the darkness. There's a staircase to his left, going up into, what he's guessing, the rest of the house they're in. Nothing else really catches his eye except for the figure across him, getting restless and constantly shifting, causing the chains to knock against each other.

Allen puts his hands in his pockets, searching for anything that might help their current situation, and comes up with nothing but pocket lint, 'Damn it, my phone was in my jacket.' He tosses the lint away and stares into the darkness where he presumes Kanda is.

"So, what now?" Kanda disturbs the silence, making Allen jump. The younger lets out a sigh and listens to the banging coming from upstairs for a moment before answering.

"I… I don't know." He runs a hand through his hair, avoiding the bump in the back, "We can't really do anything chained up like this, so I guess we have to wait. Unless you have a phone on you, then that would make this ten times better." Allen stays quiet as he listens to the rattling of chains and Kanda shuffling around. A moment later a loud curse fills the room, "Yeah, so we have to wait."

Kanda glares at the other even though he can't see him. They freeze when they hear a bolt being unlocked and Allen hurriedly whispers, "Keep your head down and don't say a word!" The door up the stairs opens up a second later and both teens turn their gaze to the ground as a guard climbs down the stairs.

Allen glances at the man and can't stop his eyes from widening when he sees the small body hanging limply in his arms. He quickly looks away when the guard walks towards him and to the corner next to Allen. He chains up the small boy around the neck before moving in front of Allen and dragging something out of his pocket.

"Earl's orders." He says simply, grabbing Allen's arms and bringing a needle filled with a golden liquid to the inside of his arm.

"No! Get off!" Allen yells, struggling to get his arms out of the bruising grip.

"Moyashi!" Kanda stands up and moves as far as he can with the chain, only moving a few feet forward. He can't really see what's happening so he yells out again, worried for his friend.

Allen lets out a gasp when the needle breaks through his skin and he shivers when the cool liquid is injected into his blood stream. The man laughs and pulls out the needle, pocketing it. He turns and steps away, ignoring the shouting of the other teen. Before he got too far, Allen swung his leg out, successfully bringing the guard down with a curse.

"Bastard." He spits on him before the man gets up with a growl, turning back to the small teen and quickly advancing. Before Allen could yell out, the guard kicks him in the head, knocking it against the back wall. He immediately passes out and the guard walks away from him, a smile on his face.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Kanda growls out as the man gets closer to him. He simply smirks at the younger boy and lunges at him, pushing his body into the wall and pulling out another needle. "You fucker, get off!" The sharp object plunges into Kanda's neck and he winces at the penetration. A few moments later, Kanda could feel his body starting to get weaker and his eyes felt very heavy.'

"Sleep tight," was the last thing he heard before he begrudgingly let the darkness overcome him.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

Cross leads Lenalee and Lavi to sit in the living room of his old house, the one he was 'killed' in, and faces the two scared looking teens. "Where's Timcanpy?" They both look up at him before looking at each other.

"I have no clue… Wasn't he with Allen when we entered the building?"

"Yeah." Lavi nods his head, trying to think back to when he saw the little golem last. "He was hanging around Allen when I brought him in, then he just… disappeared." A shuffling sound coming from Lenalee disturbed their talk and she looks down at her lap, confused when she saw one of the coats on her lap-Allen's coat-move. A second later, a golden ball pulls itself away from the suffocating fabric and rolls in the air a bit before righting itself.

"Timcanpy." The golden ball faces Cross and seems to tilt his head in question, "Did you get anything on Allen and… Kanda, was it?" Lenalee nods her head and Cross looks back at Tim as he nods his body and opens his mouth. Cross grabs the small ball before anything could be played and stuffs it into his pocket. "I'll go get Komui and Bookman for you, just stay here." He walks down the hall just as Neah hurries past him, side-stepping the smaller man.

The dark-haired man goes into the kitchen and rummages through the cabinets before pulling out a few guns and tossing them into the bag, making sure the teens in the other room couldn't see him.

After getting the few guns he knew were in the kitchen, he walks back into the living room and moves towards the bookcase and discreetly scoops up the small handgun there and putting it into the bag. "Which one of you saw the van?" Neah asks the teens on the couch, deciding to break the silence.

"I did, why?" Lavi asks, not saying anything about the trash bag he knew was filled with guns. Neah pulls out a notepad and pen from his pocket, tossing them to the red-head.

"Just write down the license plate and the type of car if you remember. Give it to Cross when he comes back in." Lavi nods and silently does as he's told, grateful for his amazing memory. Lenalee watches as Neah moves out of the room and towards the stairs, taking two at a time.

A moment later, Komui comes walking in, Bookman, Tiedoll, Marie, and Daisya right behind him. Lenalee feels her chest get tighter when her brother doesn't give her a cheerful greeting and a hug like always; he lets out a small smile and silently sits next to Lenalee, placing a comforting hand on her shaking one. She feels her eyes burn and lets her head drop onto Komui's shoulder, refusing to cry.

Bookman silently stands next to the couch on Lavi's side, noticing how quiet his grandson is. He doesn't say anything about it, knowing that the younger has strong feelings for his three friends, especially the white-haired boy he became friends with so quickly.

Tiedoll is lead to an empty seat by his two sons, who were trying to calm his down despite their own distress. Marie keeps whispering to his adoptive father, trying to at least get his breathing normal again, while Daisya just keeps his hand clenched in his own.

Cross comes back down the hallway and takes the small paper from Lavi before looking around the room and letting out a big sigh, not believing that they were in this situation.

"We all know that Allen and Kanda have been kidnapped." Tiedoll cries come even harder, "I'm going to go work in the basement to get them back. Tyki and Neah are coming with me and do not get in our way while we are busy. You all can stay here as long as you want, I don't care, and if you have any questions about where something is, ask Komui." The black haired-man nods his head and Cross continues, "We will find them." And Cross leaves the room, Tyki following closely behind, Neah joining them a moment later from one of the rooms, the trash bag in hand.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

Kanda woke up to the sound of people talking, moving around him. He keeps his eyes closed, trying to decide if he should 'wake up,' or just keep them closed and try to find out what the people are saying. A woman talking brings the teen out of his thoughts and he chooses to keep his eyes closed. After a moment of listening to the woman talk, he realizes that she was speaking a different language, one that he didn't know.

Kanda quickly gets bored and decides to crack open his eyes, grateful for the dim light and looks around. He sees a woman in a suit with her brown hair up, talking to a way bigger man similarly dressed. A body guard, he guesses. The woman seems to have finally notice that he was awake because she looks over at him and smiles, sending chills down Kanda's spine.

She walks forward and opens her arms, as if expecting a hug. "_Ah, mon ami, vous êtes éveillé!"_

…Did she just speak French? Kanda's pretty sure she just did. He's never been really good with different languages; that was always the Baka Usagi's job. She walks forward and starts talking again, but Kanda doesn't pay no mind to it; what's the point? He doesn't understand a single word this chick is saying! She gently lays her hand on Kanda's cheek and he fights back a scowl as she leans in really close. Now that she's in front of Kanda's face, he can clearly see the details of her body; she was wearing a purple dress, a shawl-looking cloth draped over her shoulders. Her hair is a light brown, loosely put up into a bun with the rest framing her face.

"_Tout simplement magnifique. Vous avez dit qu'il est d'origine asiatique, oui?" _The man behind her nods his head and her smile grows into a grin, creeping Kanda out even further. "_Il est parfait; mes clients aiment quand ils regardent exotiques de ce genre. Allons discuter d'un prix, oui?"_ They both walk away from Kanda and open a door, letting in two men who come straight up to Kanda and pick him up from where he was lying. He scowls at them, but lets them do whatever, knowing he doesn't really have a choice.

They drag him through the hallway and to a different door, locking the door from the outside after shoving the younger boy in. Kanda curses them before sitting up and fixing his disheveled appearance, looking around the room they put him in now. He looks towards a door to his right when he hears it opening and watches as a flash of brown runs through the door and to a dresser, opening the drawers and rummaging through them. Kanda recognizes him as the small boy that was brought into his previous prison before he and Allen were knocked out.

"Oi." The little boy freezes in his search and slowly turns around, facing Kanda with pure fear in his eyes. Before Kanda could say anymore, he dashes to the bathroom, something clutched to his chest, and shuts the door. "Hey!" Now slightly mad, Kanda stomps over to the door and swings it open, glad to find that there was no lock, and moves into the dim-lighted bathroom.

The little boy was in the corner, shaking like a leaf, and he kept glancing into the shower next to him. Kanda slowly walks up to him, not wanting to scare the kid any more than he is, and looks into the shower, wondering what he kept looking at.

"Moyashi!" He leans down, placing his hands on Allen's shoulders, shaking him slightly. The teen's body is soaked and Kanda guesses that he just had the shower on. Looking towards the small boy, he tries keeping his voice calm and level, "what happened?" The boy doesn't respond only stares at Kanda with wide eyes, still shaking. He lets out an aggravated sigh and turns back to Allen when he feels him starting to shift.

"Kanda…?" Allen blinks multiple times before he focuses his eyes on the dark-haired boy in front of him. He looks around before his eyes land on the small boy in the corner, looking like he's about to burst into tears. "Kanda! What'd you do?" Allen brushes off the other's hands and rushes to the boy, bringing him into his arms and whispering words to him to calm him down.

The long-haired boy looks at Allen with a slack jaw before shaking his head slightly, feeling mad. "What do you mean 'what did I do?' I didn't do shit! I was tossed in this room and he took one look at me before running into here!" He glares at the boy that was peering at him over Allen's shoulder, causing him to bury his face into Allen's neck.

Kanda lets out a groan before standing up. "Why were you in the shower anyway?"

"I was feeling hot once I woke up and I had to cool down my body somehow." Allen pulls away from the boy, taking the towel that was clutched to his chest and started drying his hair, "I asked Alex to try and find me a towel, so I could dry off." He tosses the towel onto his shoulder and picks up Alex, his small arms wrapping around Allen's neck as he moves past Kanda and back into the main room.

"Do you still feel sick?" Kanda quietly asks as Allen sits Alex down on the bed and goes to the dresser. Allen smiles, knowing that by Kanda asking that, he really cares about him, despite them arguing all the time. He turns to face Kanda after getting a pair of pants and a shirt from the drawer, heading back to the bathroom.

"I'm fine. Can you watch over Alex for moment without scaring him?" Allen closes the bathroom door before he could say anything and Kanda suddenly found himself alone with a little kid he knew nothing about. The boy seems to be ignoring Kanda's presence, looking anywhere but towards the intimidating young man in front of him.

Kanda stands there and sighs, watching as the small boy -Alex, he reminds himself- shift in his spot and stare at the door Allen went through. The older sighs again and sits down on the bed, away from the smaller boy so he doesn't feel even more uncomfortable, and crosses his legs, waiting for Allen to finish in the bathroom.

Allen quickly changes into the clothes he picked out from the drawers, thankful that they decided to fill them up before putting us in the room. 'So, we're obviously going to be here awhile with all those clothes I saw.' His hands start shaking so badly that he has trouble putting on the pants, having to sit down on the toilet to properly put them on. 'Okay, calm down Allen. You have a child and your friend to convince that you are calm so that they don't panic.' Allen takes a deep breath, letting his head drop onto his hands with his elbows on his knees.

Letting out one more sigh to try and release the tension in his shoulders, Allen gets up, leaving his clothes in the shower, and walks through the door, towel in hand. He walks in on Kanda and Alex sitting on the bed, both staring intently at him.

"What?" Kanda immediately looks away, mumbling something he couldn't hear and Alex lets his gaze drop to the plain long-sleeved shirt and sweats he was wearing. Allen was happy that there were long-sleeved shirts and that his gloves didn't get soaked completely by the shower so that he could hide his arm. He's not sure how the small boy would react to it and he didn't want to find out any time soon.

"What happens now?" Kanda questions and looks towards Allen again after a moment of silence.

"When I went through the drawers for some clothes, there were quite a bit of clothes, so I figure that we're going to be here for a while before they move us."

"Move us?" Kanda stands up and faces Allen, "Move us where?"

Alex nervously looks between the two older boys and Allen moves closer to him. "Probably back to England, or somewhere in Europe." He feels Alex slip his hand through his own and squeeze slightly. With a small smile, he returns the squeeze and reassures the boy that Kanda won't hurt him.

"…Is that why you moved across the ocean, to get away from the Earl?" Allen responds with a small yes, not meeting Kanda's eyes. He lets out another sigh and walks around the room for a moment before looking at him again. "What exactly did he do to you that made you go almost halfway across the world just to get away from him?"

"You don't need to know, Kanda." Allen coldly retorts, still not looking at his friend. Kanda stares at Allen and his frown becomes more apparent.

"I don't need to know?" Kanda repeats, his anger flaring, "I have just been kidnapped by some guy that was trying to take you, get my_ sword_ taken away from me, get hit in the _fucking _head, get looked at by some French chick who looked like she wanted to _eat me_ or something, and actually get fucking worried about you all on fucking _Christmas_!" His voice has raised so much that by the end of his speech, he was practically yelling.

Allen stares wide-eyed at Kanda as he quickly walks up to him and stares straight into his eyes, an inch away from his face. "I'm tired of you keeping secrets from me and Lenalee. If we're your friends, then you need to tell us everything you told Lavi and stop keeping us out of the loop. Got it?" Allen silently nods, not wanting to anger him further. Kanda opens his mouth to say more, but a small sniffle coming from their side stops them and they both look over at a teary-eyed Alex, staring at the two teens with wide eyes.

"Sorry, Alex." Allen goes down on his knees and pulls the boy into a hug, wiping away the tears that trailed down his cheeks, "We're not fighting anymore, you're okay." Kanda lets out a sigh and moves across the room, running his hands over his face. He now notices that his hair is out of its usual ponytail and is hanging down his back, reaching his waist. "Fine, Kanda, I'll tell you what you want to know, but not right now. _Please._" Kanda looks over at Allen, nodding after a moment and starts looking through the drawers for something to tie his hair up.

"Where'd the kid come from, anyway?" Kanda sifts through a few more drawers before growling out a curse and moving to the next dresser.

"I don't know. I woke up in this room and he was already there. My guess is that Alex is just a poor kid they took from somewhere around here." He glances at Kanda as he curses again before finally giving and sitting with a huff on the bed near the wall.

"How do you even know his name? He hasn't said a word as far as I know."

Allen sits on the edge of the bed, his legs grateful for the change in position, and looks down at said boy who was staring at his feet, sniffling every once in a while. "I asked him earlier while I was in the shower. It was the only thing I could get out of him."

Both boys sat in silence, one waiting for the other to say something and the other not sure what to say.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

**Okay, that's as far as I can get for now. I hope you like it** ** Anyway, sorry about the really big delay. I finally got my laptop fixed and I'm just going to get one of those USB thingies so I can transfer all my junk onto it and not have to worry about my dinosaur of a laptop eating my work and never giving it back :( Review please!**


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